His Struggle to Survive
by howlingember
Summary: Based off the story Claymore. What happened to Raki during the 7-year time skip? It wasn't all sunshine in the south; Raki had to run, fight, beg, steal, lie, decieve, and train his way to survival, all so he could keep a single promise.
1. Chapter 1

Raki turned to look at her one last time. There she stood tall and dignified; her silver eyes followed his progress as he walked away. Her face showed no emotion, but Raki knew she was hurting. The way she stood, the way her head tilted slightly to one side, and her eyes… yes, there was no mistaking the incredible agony held under the surface of those silver eyes. Raki knew he was just torturing himself, but he spared one last second and burned her face into his mind. _Too long._ He thought, jerking his head away from the beautiful figure _I'm wasting her time._ Moments later he was gone, dashing through the forest, away from the imminent danger and away from her. Clare. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes, but he refused to let them flow. _The time for self-pity is over_, he thought, _I have to survive! _

Aside from the clothing on his back, all Raki carried was a sword. He sprinted through the forest with it now, heading north-west. Narrowly avoiding a twisted root set in his path to trip him, Raki spotted the glistening surface of what he hoped was a stream. Water would lead to people, and he could find refuge there, if only for a short time. Approaching the stream, Raki was surprised he had not heard it before he saw it. It was very loud and rather big. Suddenly, Raki realized how thirsty he was, and knelt down to the water.

Almost immediately, he caught sight of his reflection in the slow-moving mountain stream. For a moment, he didn't recognize himself. The Raki in the reflection had bleeding cuts all over his face and body, his clothes were ripped, and tear stains made bloodless tracks down his face. His hair was a mess, dirt clotted the wounds and his pupils were dilated to the point of up-most creepiness. Raki reached to cup water in his hands to get rid of the image and relieve his thirst, only to realize he was still holding his blood-stained sword. Raki froze. His knuckles were white from clutching the sword for too long, and veins popped out on his arm from gripping it so hard. Slowly, Raki eased his grip and released the sword. Sharp pain shot through his joints in protest to being moved after keeping such an absolute position for so long. Raki blinked and brought water to his mouth slowly. I look like a crazy demon, he thought. No one in their right mind would help a boy who looks like this.

Quickly gulping down his fill of water, he splashed some cold mountain water on his face and winced. His wounds were throbbing, but he had to clean the blood and dirt away before they got infected. After scrubbing his face several times and still coming away with blood and dirt, Raki thought_ this isn't going to work._ He stood from his crouch, every limb aching. He ignored the pain and stripped down. His stomach rumbled, but Raki ignored it. He didn't have any food and didn't have time to look for some.

Taking a deep breath, Raki stepped into the freezing water. The current was stronger than he expected, and he took a few uneven steps before finding his balance. His cuts screamed in protest at this new foreign substance, but after a moment their pain faded as he grew numb with the water. Working quickly, he scrubbed each cut clean and rinsed himself of dirt and filth. The water that fled down the stream suddenly had a pinkish tinge as his blood was scrubbed away. Quickly stepping out of the river, Raki jogged in place for several minutes to warm himself and keep the cold from settling in to something deeper and more dangerous than the average chill. As soon as he judged he was no longer in immediate danger of hypothermia, Raki knelt down to his clothes. Soaked in his own blood and torn in many places, they had certainly seen better days. Heaving a sigh, Raki plunged the clothes into the river and washed them too until all that remained of the blood was a pinkish river and that too, soon faded. Raki draped his dripping clothes over a branch to dry and once again examined his reflection. The blood and dirt had gone, but his wounds were still clearly visible, sliced open skin that was somewhat puffy and swollen. But other than that, his image closer resembled that of a young boy. Raki sat back slowly and started to think.

Despite himself, Raki started to think of Clare. What was she doing right now? Was she safe? Was she even alive? Raki's thoughts grew more frantic and without realizing it he found himself clutching his sword once again._ No_, Raki thought, _I must not think like that. Clare made a promise to me! She's alive! I must keep my side of the promise as well. I'm alone in the wilderness and Clare is no longer here so I have to find my own way of surviving. _Raki glanced up at the sun. With a start, he realized the sun was rapidly descending toward the west horizon. _It's almost night. I must have been running for longer than I thought._ Looking around, Raki grudgingly admitted that he would need to set up camp for the night. It was getting dark, and he couldn't risk continuing to move without injuring himself further in the dark. _I need a fire. It's only going to get colder, and I can't keep running to warm myself. Plus it'll help my clothes dry faster._

Picking up his sword, he wandered a little ways away from the river and started gathering as many dry twigs and branches as he could. While picking up a particularly old and rotted branch, Raki found a clearing that would make a good camp for the night. He couldn't stay too close to the river; wild animals and possibly even yoma might come to drink from it at night. Setting his large bundle of branches down, he went back for his clothes. Raki approached the river carefully, moving slow and quiet. He spotted his clothes swaying softly on the low branch. He started forward only to freeze when something moved off to his left. Swinging his sword around, Raki turned toward the movement just in time to see a fox disappear in the underbrush. Still on edge, he stepped forward and grabbed his clothes. Raki was pleased to see that they were no longer soaking. Anxiously, Raki pulled on the damp clothes and moved to the clearing quickly and quietly. He'd been reckless and scared before, running like a mad man through the forest; and had no desire to bring any more attention to himself.

The sun was quickly disappearing and Raki quickened his pace to his soon-to-be camp. He was moving so quickly that Raki very nearly ran head-first into the Yoma. The Yoma had his back to Raki and was sniffing the pile of firewood Raki had made. Raki covered his mouth to keep a scream in and dived behind a thicket where the Yoma hopefully wouldn't see him. The moment Raki disappeared; the Yoma straightened and glanced around the clearing. The Yoma turned around and faced the direction in which Raki was hiding. Raki gripped his sword tighter. He knew he didn't have a prayer against a Yoma, but that didn't mean he wouldn't fight if the Yoma discovered him. The Yoma was muttering to himself. Raki strained to hear what the Yoma was saying. Finally he caught a few words, it sounded like the Yoma said "There's a human… smell… Claymore…probably a trap…leave…" The Yoma nodded to himself (Raki thought this was strange, it was such a human thing) The Yoma stepped forward and for a moment Raki thought he was leaving, but then he stopped at the thicket Raki was hiding behind. Tensing his muscles Raki prepared to run, or fight, whichever offered the most chance of success. The Yoma sniffed the air again and this time Raki heard everything the Yoma said. "There it is again. The smell of human. So delicious… I just want to rip the smell apart and feast on its owners guts." The Yoma took a deep breath and moved closer to the thicket. Any closer and Raki would be seen… The Yoma spoke to himself again: But… yes. There it is. The stink of a filthy Claymore. Think you can bait me using a human eh? Well I'm too smart for you, you disgusting half breed." And with that the Yoma really did leave. Raki stayed crouched in that position well after the sun was gone and the moon had risen. He kept expecting the Yoma to come back. It never did.


	2. Chapter 2

It was well after midnight when Raki rose from his crouch and slunk stiffly into the clearing. The Yoma was gone._ I'm… I'm safe for now. The Yoma… it smelled Clare… I… smell like Clare._ Suddenly, Raki let out a heart-wrenching sob. _She's still protecting me… even now._ Up until now Raki had gone through the motions of surviving. Running away, finding water, bathing and cleaning his wounds, hiding from the yoma, it had all been automatic. Simple, even. But now… It was night, and the day's events came rushing at him. It had begun easy enough, Raki had accompanied Clare on a Yoma hunt, and then it had all gone wrong.

The other warrior whom was supposed to be Clare's ally, had attacked her for no apparent reason, slicing her legs off at the knees. Then she attacked Raki, saying if she killed him before Clare reattached her legs then Clare would lose the "game". Raki had fought the warrior, Ophelia, with the very sword he held now, and was badly injured in the process. Raki endured a lot of pain, but kept quiet because he knew the only possible way for them to get out alive was if Clare focused and reattached her legs. Then the monster showed up. It attacked Ophelia and gave Clare, who reattached her legs in a burst of furious energy, a chance to escape with Raki. It had not lasted however, and Ophelia killed the monster and came back for them.

That was when Clare told Raki to leave. He had protested, of course. Clare was Raki's entire world. The sun rose and set with her, and the happiest time of his life happened when they traveled together. Clare saved his life, took him in when his village threw him out, and gave him purpose. He would gladly give his life to save hers, and would die sooner than leave her side. He had left, however, because she made a promise to survive and find him and he had promised the same in turn. That was not the only reason Raki had left, however, Raki knew he was nothing but a burden to Clare, and would only get in the way if Clare had to fight Ophelia again. _That's why… _he thought between sobs, _I must get stronger, so I won't be a burden to Clare… so I can… help._

Slowly, his tears receded and he leaned against a strong oak and closed his eyes. As he drifted off into a confused sleep, his thought turned lazily to an event he wasn't sure had actually happened. In the midst of his protests, Clare had leaned forward and… she kissed him. _Why?_ He wondered slowly. _I'm nothing but a burden…_ then he fell asleep. Raki would not know the answer to that question for a long time. She took him in, forced him to leave, and then kissed him for all the same reason. She loved him.

Despite his late night, Raki forced himself to rise at dawn. To survive, he needed food. (A fact that his rumbling stomach was all too pleased to point out) He also needed to find a village. There, he could get provisions, and other essentials. If he found a town… but first food. Raki walked briskly and carefully to the river bank. Once he was sure nothing and no one was there, he drank as much as he could, because he could not take any with him. He had nothing but a sword after all. Heading away from the river, Raki faced northwest and started walking. It might have been smarter to follow the river to a town, but Clare had told Raki to go northwest so that's where he went.

As he walked, Raki searched for something to ease his hunger, which had grown to an almost unbearable point. Every couple seconds or so, his stomach rumbled, a constant reminder that he hadn't eaten since… well actually, he couldn't remember when he'd last eaten. Stepping carefully through a particularly dense thicket, a sharp movement caught his eye. Slowly, Raki turned his head and spotted a particularly fat rabbit. _Perfect,_ he thought. Slowly, he brought his sword forward and then in a wild leap, plunged his sword down into the rabbit. At least, that's what he hoped would happen. What actually happened is the rabbit saw him raise his sword and jumped down its hole, so Raki plunged his sword into hard dirt. Glaring at the hole the rabbit disappeared into, Raki was about to turn away when he took notice of what the rabbit had been eating. The thicket Raki had been trying to maneuver around was actually a blackberry bush.

Grinning, Raki plucked a berry out of the tangle of thorns and eagerly ate it. The berries were not quite ripe and there weren't many, but they certainly took the edge off his hunger. Leaving the lower berries for the fat bunny, Raki headed off again. Now that he knew what to look for, Raki came across several more blackberry bushes. Soon the terrible hunger of the morning was gone and Raki could relax and focus on finding a town. For the rest of the day Raki walked, only stopping to drink from the occasional stream and eat from the blackberry bushes.

In the early afternoon Raki found a particularly sturdy oak tree and climbed it. Propping himself up with his elbows on the lowest branch, he struggled to pull himself up while still keeping a grip on his sole possession. Finally, he managed to pull himself up, but by then he had realized that this wasn't going to work. He secured the sword between two branches and pulled himself up the tree much faster. Raki climbed as far and high as he could, until the youngest branches bent under his slight weight. Raki carefully leaned out and examined the landscape. From the direction he had come, loomed the tall and imposing mountains where Clare had left him.

Forcing his gaze elsewhere, Raki focused on the land in front of him. All he could see were trees, everywhere. Except… there. That didn't look like a tree; it looked like… a church steeple. Raki squinted and leaned forward even more. Suddenly there was a large **SNAP!** And the branch he had been standing on gave way beneath him. He fell for about 3 feet before he hit another branch. The falling boy somehow managed to wrap his arms around the tree and hung on for dear life. After a moment, Raki calmed down enough to let loosen his tight grip on the trunk of the tree. If that branch hadn't been there… Raki gulped as he eyed the long drop down, he would have broken his leg, or even died, from a fall like that. Just from his short fall Raki could tell he was going to gain a fat bruise on his leg where he hit the branch. Taking a shaky breath, Raki peered once more out across the landscape until he found the church steeple. Glancing at the sun, Raki nervously calculated the steeple to be due north of him.

More cautious than before, Raki climbed down the tree until he reached his sword. Picking it up, Raki was surprised to find that its weight was comforting. He hadn't realized before, because he'd been focused on the tree, but the moment he'd set it down, he'd been on edge. Now that he was again holding the sword, he felt calmer, more in control. Lowering himself down from the tree, Raki landed softly in a crouched position. For the rest of the day, Raki walked north, toward the village, and hopefully, people.

It was nearing nightfall and Raki thought he must be close to the village, but eventually he was forced to stop. Soon he wouldn't be able to see enough to build a camp. Unlike the previous night, Raki was able to make a fire and keep himself warm, although he kept it low, not wanting to attract unwanted visitors into his camp. He lay down next to the fire and looked up through the trees at the stars. Although he knew it was cheesy, Raki couldn't help but hope Clare was looking at the stars and thinking of him too. Needless to say, at that very moment Clare was not looking at the stars. She was passed out in Irene's cabin, where she would stay for over a week recovering from her injuries. Raki didn't know this of course, so he was free to dream.

The next day Raki woke at the crack of dawn and gathered his things, or really, picked up his sword. Stretching his stiff muscles, he began north again. Raki hadn't walked for 20 minutes when he found the town. Massaging his sore neck, Raki couldn't help but resent that he had slept on the cold ground when a bustling city had been so close. All the same, Raki was grateful to have found it. As he entered the town Raki suddenly became aware of all the strange looks people were giving him. And no wonder, he was a young boy carrying a large, bare sword, with numerous cuts and wounds all over his body wandering around the city. Now that he'd found the town, Raki suddenly realized he wasn't sure what to do. He didn't have any money, so he couldn't stay at an inn or buy any food or new clothes to replace his ruined ones.

Suddenly unsure, he stuck his sword in the ground and leaned against the flat part of the blade, his back to a stone wall. All at once Raki laughed. A few people around him gave him frightened looks and hurried away, but Raki didn't care. The first time he had met Clare, she had done exactly what just did: rest against the flat side of her blade. Smiling, Raki leaned against the blade and relaxed his tense muscles. He would rest here for a while before moving on to find Clare. He would find her and then they'd be able to travel together again. Raki stayed like this for the rest of the morning, resting against his sword, eyes closed and smiling softly.

Villagers walking by were very startled to see a beaten up boy leaning on a sword, and apparently sleeping while smiling. They thought this was very creepy. By late morning, virtually the entire village had heard about this strange and unsettling boy. By early afternoon the village council was discussing what to do about him. The sun had barely made it to the western portion of the sky when Raki was approached by a small group of men. When they looked at him closely, they were surprised to see that the sleeping boy was not smiling like everyone had said. In fact, he wasn't sleeping at all, and never had been. But the men didn't know that. So they whispered among themselves uncertainly so as not to wake and provoke the boy.

Finally, Raki could no longer take their useless mutterings. Eyes still closed, Raki asked "What do you want?" Startled, several of the men jumped at his voice. Even Raki was surprised, when he had spoken his voice had been soft and guttural, the sound of a voice that has not been used in a while. Indeed, Raki realized he had not spoken out loud since he said his goodbyes to Clare. Standing up, he cleared his throat and yanked his sword out of the ground. None of the men answered. Frowning, Raki repeated his question. After a long silence one of the larger men stepped forward and cleared his throat just as Raki had done moments ago. "Excuse me son, for interrupting your sleep but… ah…" The man lapsed into an awkward silence. Raki was slightly perplexed. The man had woken him up to apologize for waking him up? "Umm." Raki said "that's okay. I wasn't actually sleeping anyway." The burly man cleared his throat again and said "well, alright then. I wouldn't want to disturb ye… but still sorry abou-" Suddenly, another one of the men stepped forward and pushed the big man aside. "You're getting nowhere with this Lax!" The second man hissed at the first. Raki decided immediately that he did not like this man.

Tall and wiry, with a fast smirk and cruel eyes, he reminded Raki of a boy from his village that had tormented the younger children and tortured small animals for kicks. The man stepped forward and greeted Raki with a disgusting smile that reminded him of curdled milk. "Young man," he said (his wide mouth reminded Raki of a snake eating a rat whole) "why are you out here all on your own? Where are your parents?" Raki didn't answer immediately, he was too preoccupied with the image of this man eating a rat whole. Forcing a smile away from his face, Raki focused on the man's question. When he had processed what the man said, Raki spoke matter-of-factly. "My parents are dead." For a moment, Raki thought he saw the man smile, and then it was gone. "What's your name boy?" The way he said "boy" was cruel and undignified, like giving Raki a number instead of a name. Rebellion Rose through Raki, and he narrowed his eyes and said nothing. When the man realized the Raki wasn't going to answer him, his face contorted with rage. "Now you listen here boy, you better answer me quick or I'll- "Aw now, there's no need to get so uptight Kero…" One of the other men drawled "Shut up!" Kero snarled furiously.

Turning once more to Raki, 'Kero' forced a smile on his face. He just made it worst. Now he looked like a pedophile instead of just a regular jerk. "So you won't tell me your name, fine. Whatever. Tell me this one thing then. How did you get so injured?" Looking away, Raki suddenly wished that he had not come to this village with this man. _Something about this Kero guy is just not right. _Raki decided to stick with his instincts. They'd never failed him before.

"We were attacked." Raki finally conceded. "We? Who attacked you?" It seemed Kero also had that annoying habit of asking more than one question at once. "Clare and I were attacked by a Yoma," He lied. "The man narrowed his eyes "who is 'Clare'? Is she dead as well?" Struggling to remain calm, Raki growled "No, she's alive_._" Gesturing impatiently, Kero asked in an exasperated tone "Well then where is she?"

Glaring the group of men, Raki clenched his jaw and spoke between his teeth. "Clare and I were separated. I've been waiting for her to find me." Raki struggled to remain calm, Kero's unsettling gaze was making him tense. Acouple of the men glanced at each other. One of them nodded. By far the oldest man in the group stepped forward "Actually, young sir, Kero, this isn't what we came here to discuss. To be frank, young man, you've been giving some of the people here a bit of a fright. So as the village council, we came to investigate." The man paused as if waiting for Raki's reply. When none came, the man opened his mouth to speak again, but Kero suddenly reached forward to grab Raki by his shirt. Raki had seen it coming, but allowed it to happen because he thought that allowing himself to get caught would ease the men's obvious fears that he was a yoma. Kero brought his face really close to Raki "You're a suspicious character, boy and we won't let someone who scares the children stay in the village." He pulled away and Raki was left with the unpleasant knowledge of what the man had eaten for lunch. Raki decided to go with a diplomatic approach. Sticking his sword in the ground, he gestured to the men, palms up. "Look, I'm sorry for scaring your village but I couldn't help it. I've been wandering about the forest for days. I don't have any money, and all I want to do is wait here until Clare comes to get me. That's all."

The men glanced at each other uneasily. Raki knew exactly what they were thinking, that he was a yoma and couldn't be trusted to stay in the village. "I'm sorry for causing you people trouble. I can't prove to you that I am not a yoma," Raki paused and several of the men looked surprised he had come and voiced their fears. "I can't leave just yet, as I have several provisions that I am in desperate need of; but if I were to obtain these things I will leave immediately." Letting this sink in, Raki sat down on the ground non-threateningly. For a moment no one spoke, and then several of the men leaned in together and started whispering. The older man stepped forward again and asked "what do you need to be on your way?" Raki pondered this for a moment and then said "a bag or pack to keep my stuff together, a canteen for water, some clothes, if you can spare them, and a bedroll." "Is that all?" The older man asked. Raki nodded. "I can find anything else I need in the woods."

Through the entire exchange, Kero had been standing behind the village elder, gritting his teeth. Apparently, he could contain himself no longer. Jumping forward, he pointed at Raki and addressed the men angrily: "Are we really going to stand by and let this insolent boy walk all over with us without a fight?!" "Kero, you fool, what the hell are you talking about?" A squat man asked. I'm telling about the fact that this boy is obviously up to no good and up to something." "No!" Raki yelled, "That's not it! I… I just want to find Clare is all… I promise I'm not-" Cutting him off, one of the men came to Raki's rescue. "This boy has done nothing wrong! Look at him! All he wants are some provisions and then he said he'll leave… good god, man, where's your compassion?" Glaring at Raki, Kero hissed "_you_ look at him… he's obviously playing us… we should make him leave." "And then what Kero?" The old man asked, exasperated. "Do we live with ourselves knowing that we may have just sent an innocent boy to his death? No. We are not a poor village; we can afford to give the poor boy some supplies." The others murmured in agreement and Kero fell into a sulky silence.

Allowing himself to relax, Raki stepped forward and thanked the group earnestly. A few men went off to fetch the supplies, and Raki chatted happily with the ones who stayed. Kero had disappeared somewhere, much to everyone's relief. "So tell me," a tall man with a thick mustache said "Who's this Clare person anyway? She must be awful important to ya, if you're going to such lengths to find her again." "She is," Raki agreed. "She's a Claymore!" Ignoring the gasps from the other men, Raki continued his story. My parents were killed by a Yoma, and so was my brother. It would have gotten me too, but Clare saved me and then when my village kicked me out, she let me stay with her as her cook." "Eh? Really?" the man with the mustache scratched his chin. "I didn't know them Claymores had enough human in 'em to feel that sort of compassion." Raki smiled, "Oh, Clare's really gentle. She can take down yoma in two seconds flat, but she's kinder than any human I've ever met. Not all warriors are that way though." Raki said seriously. "In fact, the only reason we got separated in the first place is because another warrior attacked her." "Well isn't that somthin'. I guess there are good types and bad types, just like people." Raki nodded "just like people."

A few minutes later, the other men returned with a leather pack, a large canteen, one set of extra clothes, and fresh bedroll. The men also brought Raki a worn travelers cloak, some bread, and a large belt, "to carry that big sword of yours". Smiling, Raki buckled the belt so it wound under his left armpit, and then over his right shoulder. He slid the sword into its makeshift scabbard and slipped the travelling cloak over his head. Thanking the men again for their incredible generosity, he waved goodbye and walked north-west. Raki was just on the outskirts of town, when he spotted Kero leaning against a stone wall. The man was glaring at him with absolute loathing and his message could not have been clearer. _This is not over._ Shivering slightly, Raki pulled the hood over his face and kept walking.


	3. Chapter 3

Raki exited the village hurriedly. It was barely afternoon, but he wanted to cover as much ground as possible before nightfall. As he walked Raki reflected on how kind the villagers had been. He hadn't realized how cold he was until he put on the warm cloak and fresh clothes. Humming to himself, he moved quickly along the worn road.

Twice, he met other travelers. Barely an hour outside of town, he passed a merchant heading toward the town with a wagon full of produce. "Good afternoon." Raki called out to the man. The merchant nodded, but said nothing. Unperturbed, Raki continued on. It was nearing nightfall when Raki came across the second stranger. Raki was rounding a bend in the road when he came across an old man slowly making his way towards town. As he had done before, Raki called out a friendly greeting. Looking up, the old man smiled, revealing nothing but gums.

"And a good day to you young man!" The toothless man said, grin widening. Raki smiled and was about to continue on when the old man said:

"Now what's a young lad like you doing all alone out here? Are you lost?"

"No sir." Raki said patiently. "I'm fine. Just moving on to the next town"

"Oh-ho. Are you a traveler? At such a young age?" The man shook his head "The youth these days. So willful"

Peering at Raki, he asked "How old are you boy?"

"Twelve."

The man faked a heart attack, before standing up and laughing. "Twelve, eh? Well, nameless twelve years-old boy, you got any food to spare for this decrepit old man?" The man shook his hands feebly and looked up at the sky, like a dog begging for a treat.

Raki laughed and took some cheese from his bag. "Here you go. Have a nice day sir."

"Hey! Wait!" The old man exclaimed. "Now what kind of a person would I be if I took food without paying for it?" Raki blinked.

"That's really not necessary. I-"

"Nonsense!" the old man scoffed. "I'm not short on money. Look, here's…" The man rummaged through his pack and pulled out a small money purse. "4 beras." The old man handed him a few and smiled. "Well I'll be off now, I wouldn't want to bother you anymore!" And with that, the old man hobbled off merrily. Raki smiled after the man sadly and pocketed the money.

After a while Raki left the road and wandered into the forest a little ways where he set up camp. It was slightly inconvenient, but if he wanted to avoid bandits, then he had to make camp away from roads, and even that might not help him, if the bandits traveled through the woods. Not many did, because of Yoma, but the more dangerous and confident groups were known to roam the forests.

Yawning, Raki slowly walked around the area to gather twigs and logs for kindling. Returning to the tiny clearing he had found, Raki gathered built up a fire from a small flame to a roaring blaze. Sitting in front the fires warmth, Raki felt himself slowly relax. He'd been walking for most of the day, but he didn't feel that tired. From his bag he pulled out a small hunk of bread and the apple. _I wonder if I'll make it to the next town tomorrow… if I can I'd really like to get a knife and maybe some flint. I don't have much money though… _ _I might be able to beg some equipment off of a merchant or villager, but I seriously doubt it. _Raki hesitated for a moment and then solidified his resolve. _If worse comes to worse I could steal the things I need… but I'd rather not. _Staring down at his hands, Raki slowly clenched and then unclenched his fists._ But I'll do it. If it means I have a better chance of keeping my promise to Clare, then I'll do anything. _

Resting his chin on his fists, he stared blankly into the flames. _Strange… fire is so strange. I wonder what it is exactly. I always thought that fire was a kind of orange color. But it's not really. It's not any specific color. It is its own color. It isn't orange… or yellow. Or red, or green, or brown, or blue, or purple. And more than just color, what is it? It's not a solid, it's certainly not a liquid, and I'm pretty sure fire isn't a gas._ Raki sat and pondered this for a while. _Fire... is a parasite. It just keeps consuming and will continue to grow indefinitely unless stopped. _An ember popped and sent sparks sailing toward the moon. _But it's also beautiful._ Raki watched the sparks twirl upward until they softly blinked out, one by one. _Fire is a destructive parasite that will take you over and consume you if you're not careful, but it also does so much to help people. It keeps them warm, cooks their food, makes water safe to drink, and can even protect people. So why is something so dangerous also so helpful? Why is something that should be feared so breathtakingly beautiful? Why is it that I have come to love fire so much that I fear that once it is taken away from me I will die of misery? _ At that very moment if someone had asked: "So what color is a fire exactly?" Raki would have replied: "Silver."

As always, Raki woke at the crack of dawn. He quickly gathered his things and made his way back to the road. Adjusting his backpack, Raki wondered if he was becoming ill. Forcing himself forward, he took one staggering step after another. He was definitely ill. But it was unlike any other sickness he had ever experienced before. He didn't feel hot, or dizzy, or nauseous. Instead his throat constricted painfully every time he swallowed, his feet dragged, and worst of all: he couldn't catch his breath. It was like whenever he tried to inhale, the oxygen was snatched from his lungs. Despite all this, Raki pushed forward, determined to reach the next town before nightfall.

It was around noon when Raki was suddenly no longer alone. All morning he'd been walking down a seemingly empty path. Then the road he was traveling on converged with another and Raki was surprised to find himself surrounded by other people. Glancing around, he spotted four different traveling groups within his immediate vicinity. Two were merchant wagons loaded down with produce and wares usually sold in large cities. The other two were lone travelers like himself; a large burly man carrying a long walking stick, and a tall woman with long black hair. With a second glance, Raki noticed that his first impression of the woman had been wrong. She had very small child in a sling across her chest.

Raki's chest swelled with sympathy for the woman. As if suddenly realizing someone was looking at her, she glanced up sharply, and her eyes met Raki's. Raki quickly looked away, embarrassed at being caught staring. He took in another shallow breath and trudged on.

After several miles, or what felt like several miles anyway, the road intersected another road and the path became even more crowded. Forced to walk along the edge of the trail by a particularly large merchant wagon, Raki glanced sideways and gasped. The wagon was filled with weapons; swords, knifes, bows, everything. _I do need a knife,_ Raki reminded himself.

Putting on an open and innocent face, Raki sped up to talk to the person driving the wagon. "Excuse me sir." He began politely "but I couldn't help noticing your wares. How much would you charge for a decent hunting knife?" The man examined him silently. Instead of answering his question, the man asked:

"What's a little kid like you doing around here? Where're your parents?" He glanced around as if they might magically appear.

Smiling politely, Raki said "they're not here sir. But more importantly, I'd really like to know how to how much a hunting knife would cost." The man gave him a skeptical look over.

"I have money." Raki prompted. _Although not much…_ The man scratched his stubbly beard.

"Well I guess if you have money… I wouldn't mind selling to a kid." The man peered down at Raki from the cart. "Especially seeing as you're already armed. Where'd ya get that sword boy?"

Carefully unsheathing the Rabona sword, Raki explained, "A friend gave it to me while I was traveling through Rabona."

"Rabona eh? That's quite a distance from here. "I've never been there. But I'd like to someday. I hear it's a beautiful place to visit and even-"

"I was going to buy a hunting knife." Raki interrupted.

"Ah, yes. Let's see. I have knives for decoration, hunting and defense; I even have some imported throwing knives from the north! Are you sure you want a plain ol' guttin' knife? Throwing knives would probably accentuate that sword rather well." The merchant stroked his chin. "If you buy the knives I'll throw in the sheath 10% off."

"I'll stick with a hunting knife." Raki said firmly. "And maybe a sheath too."

"Alright. I can respect a customer who knows what he wants. Brett!" the man barked. "C'mere!" Suddenly a disheveled head appeared from within the depths of the caravan.

"Comin' boss!" The head shouted. Then the head transformed into a full body, which scrambled up to the front, stumbling twice. "Ya called boss?" The person called 'Brett' was a young boy, around Raki's age.

Gesturing vaguely in Raki's direction the merchant said, "fix this boy up with a decent hunting knife will ya Brett?" Raki saw surprise and then suspicion cross Brett's face.

"Who are you?" Brett asked.

"My name is Raki." Re-sheathing the rabona sword, Raki said: "My budget is three beras." When Brett made no move to help him, Raki added uncertainly, "For the hunting knife I mean."

Nodding slowly to himself, Brett relaxed slightly "three beras will get you a pretty decent knife, and maybe a leather sheath. "Do you have a sheath?" Brett asked. Raki shook his head silently. "hmm. Okay," mumbling to himself, Brett walked to the back of the caravan and started rummaging through boxes. From where Raki was walking alongside the merchant, he had a pretty good view of Brett as he tore through wooden crates.

"Umm… Is it okay that he's doing that?" Raki asked the merchant as Brett threw a couple of expensive-looking combat knives aside. Totally oblivious, the merchant said, "Oh don't worry, he'll find you a good knife." From the depths of the wagon came a loud banging sound and then even louder cursing. The merchant hummed a catchy tune to himself. Edging away from the wagon, Raki waited nervously for the other boys return. Materializing from the wagon, Brett thrust three knives in Raki's direction.

"They're all high-quality and all under three beras." Examining each blade, Raki asked,

"Which is the sturdiest?"

"Oh, you're after strength eh? Well that'll be this one here. Pointing to the shortest and widest blade, he said: "This one will cost two and a half beras. If you keep up on the sharpening and don't let it rust it should last you a long time." Testing the blade, Raki found it to be perfectly balanced and very sharp.

Very pleased, Raki scoffed. "Two and a half beras? Is this a joke? This piece of junk is barely worth one!"

Feigning outrage, Brett gasped. "How dare you! This knife is some of the best workmanship in the whole continent! Two and a half beras."

"One and a half."

"Two."

"Deal."

Smiling softly, Raki handed over two beras. He hadn't had a good haggle in a while. Brett took back the other two knives and disappeared into the caravan only to return again with a sheath. Shortly following Brett's return, Raki haggled the sheath's price down to half a bera. Buckling the sheath around his waist, Raki dropped all pretense of indifference involved in haggling.

"This is really good workmanship." Gesturing to the wagon, Raki asked Brett "Who made all these?"

"My Uncle! The boy boasted. He's the best smith in our village! My Dad and I are traveling around showing off his work and selling his weapons!" The Merchant waved to Raki merrily.

Sheathing his new hunting knife, Raki said, "My village had a blacksmith; but he wasn't very good. At least not compared to this." Raki patted the sheathed blade appreciatively.

"Where are you from?" Brett inquired.

"I was born in a small village in the south called Doga." Raki explained.

"All the way in the south? That's pretty far."

"It's not as far as you'd think, actually. Especially if you keep moving and avoid staying in any one village for more than a few days."

Peering sideways at Raki, Brett asked: "How old are you? I mean… you look to be about my age, but you're traveling all alone. At least…" Brett looked around in the same way his father had, as if he expected Raki's nonexistent companions to show themselves.

"I'm travelling alone." Raki clarified. "At least for now anyways. I got separated from my companion and now I'm going from town to town looking for her."

"Her? Is she your sister or something?"

"Sort of. We-"

"Oh!" Brett interrupted. "I almost forgot your stones!"

"What?"

Suddenly disappearing into the wagon, Brett re-appeared carrying two smooth black stones, some strange oil and a small piece of cloth.

"These are your whet stones and oil." The boy instructed. "Depending on how much you use the knife you'll need to sharpen it at least once a week." Brett then showed Raki the proper way to care for his knife. Glancing at the sword on Raki's back, Brett asked, Do you have whet stones for that sword too?"

"Do I need them?" Raki asked uncertainly.

"Of course you do! If you don't take care of that sword it'll get chipped or break, just like a knife." Raki sighed when Brett disappeared into wagon yet again. It seemed he was getting a lot more than he had initially thought. When he returned, Brett had one large whet stone and bigger thing of oil.

"The cloth I gave you earlier should work for both." He explained.

"Alright." Raki reluctantly reached for some money. "How much then?"

With a confused smile, Brett asked, "for the stones? Nothing. They come with the knife. As for the extra one for your sword, we'll call that a bonus. Since you've been such a good customer and all."

Smiling, Raki graciously took the stones and placed them in his pack.

For the rest of the day Raki travelled alongside Brett and his father, talking and laughing as the heavy wagon continued down the worn trail. By late afternoon however, they reached the next town. Brett and his father offered to let Raki share a room with them at the inn, but he declined. He didn't want to inconvenience the pair any further than he had, and even if he accepted, they would soon have to part ways anyway.

Raki set up a small camp in the woods on the outskirts of town, not wanting to waste the rest of his money on a room when he could easily sleep outside. Raki finished off the bread and cheese for a meager dinner and stretched out on his bedroll. Above him, stars were just beginning to appear in the dusky sky. Suddenly, his stomach clenched painfully. Raki gritted his teeth. He'd been having these pains all day. Talking with Brett and his father had distracted him from the pains for a while, but now he was alone, he was finding it hard to take deep breaths. Eventually he managed to relax somewhat and fell into a deep sleep.

Raki woke the next morning to an angry growling sound. Sitting upright, he was startled by a burst of blazing sun. It was well into the morning. He had overslept. Suddenly the growling sound came again. Shifting to look around, Raki had to laugh when he realized that the growling was actually coming from him. Well, his stomach anyways. Standing up, he stretched a little and then packed up his small camp. Despite his hunger, Raki felt better than he had in days. It was amazing was a little extra sleep could do. Walking the short distance to the town Raki soon found that Brett and his father had already left. He was a little sad that he didn't get to say goodbye, but not surprised they had decided to get a head start and move on to the next town.

For breakfast, Raki bought some dense bread from a grumpy merchant. It was filled with several kinds of nuts and very sweet, presumably from honey baked into the bread. It was by far the best breakfast he'd had in several weeks. As he examined his surroundings, he found that the town was actually much larger than he had previously thought. It contained several inns, most with their own taverns as well. The village appeared to be a merchant town, and every street was filled with shops. Walking by a smith shop, Raki was surprised Brett and his father hadn't wanted to stay in this town to show off their wares. _Too much competition I guess. _

Walking through the streets, Raki noticed how little the people seemed to take notice of him. In a large village such as this, he supposed a young boy wouldn't attract that much attention. Approaching a shop keeper selling exotic spices, he said "Excuse me sir, but have you seen a Claymore come through here recently?"

Startled, the man replied "No. Should I have?"

_People would notice if a Warrior came through here. So if she has actually been here, then she might be disguised as a human again._

"No, it's no problem sir. You see, I'm searching for my older sister, and I didn't want her to get carried off by the Claymores," Raki lied.

"Older sister?" The shopkeeper regarded him suspiciously. "If she's older than you, they won't take her. They only take little ones."

"Really?" Raki was pretty sure the man was wrong, but played along anyway. "Well that's a relief." Giving the man a grateful smile he said seriously, "Have you seen a young, pretty girl come through here recently then? She's tallish, with brown eyes and short blond hair."

The man shook his head. "I haven't seen anyone like that come through here. And I would have noticed a girl traveling alone." The man gave Raki a pitying look. "She might not be taken away by them Claymores, but if she's alone, there are plenty of men who might take advantage of her. I'd hurry and find her if I were you."

Walking away, Raki thought:_ That's right, if Clare were to disguise herself as a human girl, she would draw attention to herself. If that's the case, and she is actually using those pills to change her eye color, then she might be disguised as a boy!"_

For the rest of the morning, Raki approached anyone who looked friendly and asked about his older brother, or sometimes his older sister. By noon he had heard nothing of importance, and was already wiped out and depressed from his fruitless searching. Wandering into a town square, he sat down on stone bench. Elbows on his knees and head in his hands, he sighed. Raki stared at the uneven stones beneath his feet.

_Is Clare… even alive? She promised to stay alive no matter what but… her opponent was so strong. Could she really have kept her promise and survived? Am I looking for a dead person? _Shaking his head fiercely, Raki scolded himself. _Don't think like that! Of course Clare is still alive… _He couldn't fully convince himself, however. Forcing his thoughts away from Clare, he silently picked at the scab on his cheek. It had healed without any problems, but the scab certainly was big and ugly.

Raki stretched out and looked around, trying to shake off his depression. The town square was busy and full of people, walking around, talking with friends, and generally enjoying the good weather. In the center of the square stood a large and very beautiful statue of two women, standing back to back, with heads bent low and hands together, as if in prayer. The women had two wings between them, but it was in no way ugly or strange. If anything, the one set of wings gave the women an even more beautiful and other worldly appearance. Mesmerized, Raki wondered why he didn't notice them before. A young girl ran past him, laughing. She had scraggly brown hair, freckles, and lively brown eyes. She ran up to the statue and stood looking up at the two women's faces. Behind her, an older boy followed, presumably her brother. From his position, Raki could clearly hear what they were saying. "Come on!" the boy said loudly. "This is boring! Why do you always want to stare at this stupid statue?"

"If you think it's boring," the girl snapped "You can leave. I didn't ask you to come with me. And anyway," she continued, "this isn't just some statue! This is Teresa and Clare!" Raki was on his feet in an instant.

"Excuse me," he said hurriedly, "what did you just say about Clare?"

"Umm…" the girl gave him a sort of strange look and he realized what he must have looked like just then. He was dirty, covered in wounds, and had just randomly come up and started asking weird questions. But at that moment, he didn't really care. "You just said something about Clare," he said again. "What were you just talking about?" Raki searched her eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Ah… you know…" she said. "The statue…" she gestured behind her at the two women. It's of Teresa and Clare. The twin goddesses from the myth."

Raki looked up at the statue, momentarily forgetting the girl. _Clare… _Tearing his gaze away he asked: "Which one is Clare?"

The girl looked at him silently, shadows of fear in her eyes.

"Please," he begged. Which of the goddesses is Clare? I have to know." Desperation clawed its way into his voice.

The girl pointed to the goddess on the right, "I'm pretty sure that one is Clare."

Gazing up at Clare's face, Raki relaxed, and he smiled softly, the first real smile he had had in a long while. "Clare…" he murmured. Raki suddenly remembered all the wonderful times he and Clare had spent together. He remembered the first time he had ever seen her. She had been so beautiful; he never even heard the other villager's remarks on how dangerous she was. He remembered following her through his village, and the way she asked, "You're not afraid of me?" Like someone had given her a lovely gift she wasn't sure what to do with. He remembered when she saved him from the yoma, and when he chased after her when she left, to learn the name of his savior. _Clare. _He remembered how she took him in, when the people he had grown up with and lived with his whole life threw him out. He remembered long days and peaceful nights, traveling by her side, happier than he had ever been. They had been everywhere and nowhere together.

All the good memories flowed into him at once, and he exhaled. Breathing as if he had been holding his breath since he last saw her. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes, and determination rose up through him like never before. He would keep his promise. He would believe in Clare to keep hers. He would search for Clare until he found her; whether it would be tomorrow or in 50 years, he would find her without fail. They would travel together and be happy again. No matter what.

Raki sighed again, although this time it was filled with happiness and relief. Turning to the girl, he said:

"Thank you very much. I'm sorry if I scared you a moment ago. I was not myself."

The girl was smiling now as well. "It's no problem! If anything I'm happy to meet another person who admires Teresa and Clare as much as I do!" She elbowed the boy standing next to her in the ribs. "Some people think it's just a stupid legend, but I really like them!"

"Owwww," The boy next to her whined.

Raki smiled. "Well I don't know about legends," he turned back to the statue, "but they are rather beautiful and inspiring."

"I know, seriously!"

Raki talked with the girl for a long time after that. They didn't talk about anything important or memorable, but it was nice all the same. Eventually however, the girl had to leave and Raki needed to get going anyway. While they were talking however, Raki did ask her if she had recently seen a blond man or woman come into town as of late. She had confirmed that no one like that had come to the town recently.

Waving goodbye, Raki decided that after buying some necessary equipment he would move on to the next town. For one bera, Raki bought several days' worth of bread and cheese, as well as a small bit of flint. It took him longer than he thought it would to find his way out of the big village. Eventually he managed to find the main road again, after asking for directions. Spirits high, he trudged down the uneven road, headed to the next town, headed to Clare.


	4. Chapter 4

After leaving the merchant town, Raki made fast progress for the rest of the day. He headed due north-west. The day passed uneventfully, and Raki tried to make up for his wasted morning by traveling quickly, and longer than he normally would. It was well past dusk when he was finally forced to stop and rest.

Too tied to make a fire, Raki spread his bedroll on the soft pine needles and sat down. Easing his boots off, he tossed them aside and laid down. Slowly, and somewhat painfully, Raki relaxed the tense muscles in his back. Sighing, he wrapped himself in his cloak and looked through the branches, hoping for a glimpse of the stars or moon. It was cloudy that night and he saw neither. Closing his eyes, he once more sighed and allowed himself to slowly drift off to sleep.

It wasn't long before his sleep was disturbed by a strange scuffling noise. At first he thought it was a dream and willed himself to dream about something else, but when the noise persisted, he cracked open one eye warily. Dawn was faintly approaching, so there was just enough light to make out a huddled shape pawing through his bag.

It was much too small to be a Yoma or person, so Raki figured it was some type of wild animal. With the intent of scaring it away, Raki jumped up and yelled, "Hey! Get out of here!" Suddenly and without warning, the animal leapt at Raki. Falling backward in surprise, he landed on his back. Raki instinctively tried to push the creature off of him. The dark form crouched on him, scratching at his face. A vicious set of fangs snapped dangerously close to his throat. With one arm, he kept the snarling creature on top of him at bay, and with the other, he groped blindly for his sword. Finally locating the hilt of his sword, Raki accidentally relaxed his other arm just enough to allow the jerking animal to lunge forward and sink it's fangs into his shoulder. Gritting through the unexpected pain, Raki brought the Rabona sword around, stabbing toward the animal. His sword met hot flesh, and the animal yelped; then it slumped forward, dead.

Raki's sword pierced straight through the poor beasts' stomach. Gasping, Raki wriggled out from underneath the heavy body, and scrambled to his feet. Too fast. His shoulder was bleeding profusely and he sat down again, hard, head swimming. Blood soaked his sleeve and it was still coming. Raki clamped his hand over the wound. Pulling his pack to him, Raki fumbled for his old clothes. Locating his dirty shirt, he quickly tore it into thick, messy strips using his teeth. Meanwhile, hot blood continued to escape from the wound. Sluggishly, he wound the strips around his shoulder and tightened the knots with his teeth. Gasping from the pain, he pulled them tighter and continued to apply pressure to his wound. Slowly but surely, the blood trickled to a stop, the makeshift bandage already soaked through.

Glancing around the camp, vision blurry, his eyes fell on the animal that had attacked him. The sky had continued to lighten and Raki could now see that it was a fox, glassy eyed and very dead, foam flecked the corners of its sagging mouth. Raki couldn't help but feel bad for the poor thing. Leaning against a tree, he thought, _I'm wounded, but at least I'm still alive._

Dawn was fast approaching, and Raki shook himself slightly to get his blood flowing again. Shoulder throbbing, he gingerly picked up his bag and looked through it. With a sigh of relief, Raki found that the fox had not managed to locate his limited bread and cheese before Raki woke up. Grabbing a small hunk of bread for himself, he chewed it slowly and walked toward the dead fox. Turning it over with his toe, he knelt down to examine his handiwork. Finishing off the bread, Raki picked the fox up by its tail. _I wonder what fox tastes like…_

An hour and a half later, the fox was burning over a roaring fire on a picket similar to one he had made when first traveling with Clare. Before cooking it, Raki had been sure to skin the fox. Raki sat cross-legged with the orange pelt in his lap, doing his best to ignore his throbbing shoulder while ridding the skin of any meat. Finally setting the skin aside to check on the meat, he prodded the fox. Satisfied that it was done, he gently lifted the picket away from the fire, and set the meat aside to dry. _This as good as a time as ever to test out my new knife._ He picked up the bloody pelt and slowly and carefully began stripping away excess flesh from the backside of the skin.It was half-way through the morning when the meat was finally dry and stored and the flesh stripped away from the skin. By the time he was back on the road, it was much later than he had anticipated.

He was a bit unsure about the fur. He really had no idea how to preserve it, or what to do with it now he had it. But he figured, at the very least, he could sell it at the next town. All day he walked along the same road, hardly ever coming across other travelers. When night fell he made camp with a proper fire, and slept close to his sword. He woke early the next day, as always, and got started again.

Loaded down with the meat and fur, Raki felt like he was moving much slower than before. Growing frustrated, he picked up his pace only to have to stop and rest. _Why am I so tired?_ He wondered. As the day wore on, he grew more and more exhausted. His shoulder wound pulsed, and he collapsed in the shade of a tree for the fourth time that day. Gasping for breath, he pulled his cloak off. _Why am I so hot? The sun is behind clouds… _Reaching up to wipe sweat away from his eyes, Raki suddenly flinched away at his own touch. Gingerly touching his face and realized why he was so hot and tired. _I have a fever. And a pretty high one too._ _But why would I… oh no._

Raki hurriedly turned to his wounded shoulder. Quickly unwinding the blood-soaked makeshift bandages, his worst fears were realized when he caught sight of the fox bite. His entire shoulder was puffy and red and the skin around the wound was slightly yellowish. _It looks like… the start of an infection. _Gulping nervously, Raki grabbed his canteen and gingerly cleaned his shoulder. When all the dried blood and dirt had been washed away, he used the rest of his precious water to clean the dirty shirt-strips he had used as bandages. Watching the clean water turn brackish, Raki scowled. _Stupid! _He berated himself. S_tupid, stupid, stupid! How could I be so careless? _He bandaged his armand reluctantly started walking again. _Before this gets worse I need to make it to the next town and find the local doctor or something. _

The cool water had felt good on his shoulder, but the pain came back full force around noon. Gritting his teeth, Raki stopped on the side of the road and changed his bandages again. The bite was no better than it had looked in the morning. If anything, it was even more swollen and tender. He didn't have any water to wash his wounds with, so he wandered into the forest a ways, in the direction he was certain he had heard running water. It didn't take him long to find it either.

A large trickle of water flowed over a flat rock face, forming a sort of mini-waterfall. The water then trickled into a small, clear, creek bed. It was very beautiful. Kneeling on the soft ground, Raki uncapped his canteen and filled his canteen to the brim. He removed his pack and cloak and lay them down; leaning carefully over the creek, he pressed his cheek against the rock face and let the cold water flow into his mouth and splash over his fevered face. It tasted clean, and Raki speculated that it might be snow-melt from the mountains in the north. When he could drink no more and his face had cooled down some, he turned to his shoulder. Gingerly, he pulled his shirt up and over his wounded shoulder. He leaned forward once more and let the stream wash over the fox bite. His shoulder protested at the foreign touch; but soon the cold numbed the feverish wound, and he could relax a bit. He then washed his bandages before tying them back around the wound. Sticking his head under for one last sip of the cool water, he turned back to road.

For the rest of the day, Raki made good progress, even despite his arm. He didn't meet any other travelers along the way, which was surprising, since he'd seen several other travelers just yesterday. By dusk his wound had begun to throb again, even despite his constant cleaning and dressing of the wound. At nightfall, Raki gratefully stopped at a small roadside clearing for the night. He built a fire even though he wasn't cold, and sat down in front of the fire for a while, thinking.

He thought about practical things. Things such as his shoulder; he wondered what he could do better to keep the infection from getting worse. Because, so far, it didn't seem to be getting any better. He thought about how much food he had, and how long it would last. He thought about his water and canteen and cloak. He thought about the fox that attacked him, and what he should do with its fur. He thought about his sword, and his knife. He thought about pretty much everything, everything except Clare.

When he could no longer hold his thoughts back, he took out his oil and whet stones and sharpened his knife. Raki ran the stone along the sharpened edge of his knife, just like Brett had showed him. When he finished with his knife, Raki sharpened his sword, which took much longer. By the time he was done, his shoulder throbbed from the constant back and forth motion. The fire had died down, and the night sky was dark. Exhausted, Raki fell asleep as soon as he put his feverish head down.

Raki stood alone in a clearing in the woods. It was high noon, and the sun baked down onto his skin.

_What am I doing here? _Raki had a vague notion that he was doing something important. What was it again? A cliff sloped down to his left, and he gazed at it uncomfortably. Somehow, he recognized this place. Peering around, was just about to investigate the cliff face when he spotted a figure stepping out from the trees. Raki remembered what he had been doing.

"Clare!" He shouted. But soon stopped short. The person before him was not Clare. It was a Warrior. A warrior with no sword and no symbol around her neck. No, this was not Clare. This was a Yoma. Raki remembered everything now. This was a Yoma disguised as a warrior. It had lured him up the mountain as bait for Clare. Raki glared at the pretty-looking beast. Reaching for his sword, Raki unsheathed it and stood ready.

"Stay back, monster," He ordered.

"Now, now," the false-claymore said, "Is that anyway to speak to someone who has saved your life?"

"You didn't save my life! Clare carried me out of the desert! And you're not a warrior either! You're a Yoma!"

If the monster was surprised, she didn't show it. Instead it violently transformed from her beautiful image into the grotesque form of a Yoma. "Well!" It snarled, "I guess this saves me the trouble of lying to you boy!" It rushed towards him at incredible speed. Raki brought his sword around in slow motion by comparison, but somehow managed to get the sword into a strike when the yoma blazed towards him.

"Aaaagh!" Raki yelled, putting his full strength into the blow. He might have even hit it, but the moment his sword touched the yoma, the blade turned to mist, passing through the monsters torso without even scratching it.

"Foolish human!" the yoma snarled. In one fluid movement, the yoma was standing behind him, one long claw prepared to slash his throat.

"Come on out now!" the yoma screeched. At the command, Clare stepped from the trees.

"Clare!" Raki yelled. Clare frowned in Raki's direction, as if disappointed in something.

"You've been tracking me haven't you?!" The yoma asked.

Ignoring the imminent danger, Clare turned to Raki. "I thought you said you were going to become stronger Raki." She took a step forward.

"Don't move any closer!" the yoma screeched. "I know how fast you Claymores are! Now drop your sword!"

Clare ignored him. "Raki, I can't protect you anymore. You are going to have to learn to do that yourself. You need to wake up. Hurry, before the fever takes you." With a look around, Clare fixed her gaze on the yoma. "I'm sorry Raki. Whether or not we meet again is on you." And with that, she turned around and left.

"Ho ho." The yoma growled. "Looks like you've been abandoned human!" It dragged its claws across his throat, ripping him open.

Raki gasped, and bolted upright. He was lying on his bedroll, in the middle of a clearing, completely alone. Dying embers popped in the burned wood. Breathing heavily, he gingerly touched his throat. It was completely fine. Blinking, Raki focused on his dream before it could fade. Yes he remembered.

Raki wiped some sweat away from his brow. He was sweating profusely, and not just from his nightmare. His fever had gotten worse. A lot worse. Using the moon as a meager source of light, Raki checked his shoulder. It had swollen even more during the night. The bite itself was now about the same as an apple. Blue veins wound away from the wound, and a yellow pus oozed away from the puncture. Gulping, Raki stood up, the sudden movement sent blood away from his brain, and he swayed on his feet. _I… don't have time to rest. I need to get to the next town before this gets any worse. _

Raki gathered his meager belongings together and walked through the darkness to the road. Judging from the moon, Raki estimated that it was just past midnight. With a little will power and a lot of luck, he would make it to town before he passed out. As he walked, his condition only grew worse. Feverish thoughts bubbled to the surface of his mind. Staggering across the road, Raki suddenly caught himself wondering if Zaki would be too busy again yoma to play with him. _Stop it! _He yelled at himself. _Zaki's dead! I need to hurry and get to the next village!_ For the next couple of miles, Raki walked purposefully, and with a clear mind. Eventually though, his exhaustion gave way to the fever.

"Hey, Clare!" He called excitedly "Do you think we'll make it to the next town soon? I'm thinking about buying some spices to make your food extra-tasty! If you can't eat a lot, then what you do eat should at least taste really good right?" Raki laughed and continued babbling, despite the lack of response. "Are we looking for a yoma Clare? Are you going to save another village?" Raki turned around, smile faltering at the empty air. "Clare?" He called out tentatively. And then louder, "Clare! Clare, where are youuuuuu! Clare!" Shrugging to himself, he said aloud: "She's probably going to the bathroom again!"

Suddenly, Raki stopped dead in the road. Drawing back his good arm, Raki slapped himself in the face. Hard. "Dammit!" he cursed "I'm losing it! God dammit I'm going crazy! Stupid fox!" Scowling angrily, he dug through his back for his canteen. For the rest of the night, every time he felt himself slipping, Raki splashed cold water on his face, and when the water ran out, he pinched himself hard on his shoulder. The pain sent him reeling, but he was able to stay somewhat clear-minded because of it. Clear-minded or not, by the time the sun peeked over the bleak horizon, Raki was nearly overcome with exhaustion. Zigzagging dangerously across the dirt road, Raki was on verge of collapse when he finally found the village. Staggering the last few hundred yards, Raki dully noted that people were already out and about. A baker prepared his wares for the day, and children walked past, carrying buckets full of water, presumably from a nearby well.

The baker, whose name was Tobias, suddenly noticed him. "Hey!" he shouted. "What are you doing standing there?" Squinting, Tobias saw Raki sway on his feet, take a shaky step forward, and then crumple to the ground, unconscious. With a shout, the baker rushed forward, not even pausing to consider the potential danger.

"Hey! Are you okay?!" The boy didn't move. The man reached Raki, panting heavily. Tobias was a large man, who rarely saw any real exercise besides walking the town, selling his bread. All the same, he kneeled down at Raki's crumpled form. Shaking him gently, the man said,

"Hey, wake up." Shifting slightly, Raki groaned, but soon stilled again. Tobias propped Raki up into a sitting position. With a start, he realized that this person was just a child. By now, a small crowd had gathered around Raki and Tobias and was muttering amongst themselves uneasily. Tobias gingerly placed a cool hand on Raki's feverish forehead.

"What's wrong with him Tobi?" a man in the crowd asked.

"I'm not quite sure, but he has quite a fever going." Tobias replied.

"Should we take him to Diana?" Someone asked.

"What if he's a yoma? We can't be certain he's not trying to trick us…"

"If he was a yoma he'd have killed us by now. And anyway, he's just a boy! We can't just leave him."

Tobias frowned and squinted at Raki's unconscious form. "I'm taking him to Diana's." He decided. "I'll take full responsibility for anything that happens."

The people around him muttered anxiously, but for the most part, they just stood back and watched. The baker, Tobias, shook Raki one more time for good measure. Raki didn't so much as stir.

"We better hurry," he said to the people around him.

With effort, Tobias swung Raki over his shoulder, and headed purposefully into town. A small crowd of watchers followed close behind, too scared to help, but not willing to be left out of anything interesting either. Within a few minutes, Tobias arrived at a large shop near the center of town. Pounding on a sturdy oak door, he called out,

"Diana! Are you in? It's an emergency!"

"Well, let me come running then!" said a sarcastic voice from the other side of the door. Moments later, it opened to reveal a pretty middle aged woman with green eyes and fading blond hair.

"This better be important. You know how much I hate getting-" she stopped short when she saw the slumped form draped over the bakers shoulder. Diana didn't miss a beat.

"Hurry. Bring him inside." She ordered. Tobias walked past her into a very orderly living room, leaving a curious crowd of people outside.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked, quickly clearing a place on the kitchen table to lay the young boy.

"I'm not sure." Tobias panted. "He just collapsed outside of town. He has a pretty high fever though."

"Hmm. Lay him here." She gestured to the table and washed her hands in a large water basin. "Take off his cloak and bag."

"Whoa!" Tobias said.

"What?!" Diana spun around.

"This kids got a sword!" Tobias said, holding it up. "And it's a pretty good one too!"

"Put that down!" Diana hissed "Stay focused! This boy needs our help!" Sheepishly, Tobias put the sword with Raki's cloak and bag.

Moving forward, Diana rolled Raki onto his back and felt his forehead. "You're right. This is a pretty high fever." Grabbing a limp wrist Diana checked his pulse and nodded slowly to herself. "His pulse is strong, but his breath is shallow."

Glancing at the baker, she ordered: "soak some of those rags in the basin and put them on his forehead."

"O-okay."

Diana began a systematic probing of Raki and soon found his shoulder. Tobias came back with the cool rags and Diana placed them on his forehead. She rolled up Raki's sleeve and scowled at the makeshift bandages.

"Hand me a knife." She said, gesturing to her kitchen.

Quickly, Tobias fetched it.

Once she had it, Diana carefully cut away the bandages. "I knew it." She hissed. "He has an infection."

"An infection?"

"Yes." Diana probed the swollen wound, eliciting a small steam of yellow pus. Beside her, Tobias struggled to keep down his breakfast.

"All right." She straitened and walked to her kitchen. "Tobias I'm going to need your help." She stuck her knife into a small fire burning in the fireplace.

"What are you doing?" Tobias asked curiously. He was loathe to admit it, but he was out of his comfort zone here. Appreciating, not for the first time that his line of work was so simple.

She didn't answer for a moment, instead carrying the hot blade to the water basin. She dipped it in in the cool water, and a small bit of steam rose up from the bowl. Finally, she said:

"I'm sanitizing the knife." Looking him in the eyes, she said, "We have to re-open the wound to let the pus drain."

"Umm…"

"I'm going to be honest to you Tobias." She said, continuing on, "This isn't going to be pretty. I've done this only once before with such an advanced infection, and three men had to hold him down. Granted, he was a lot bigger than this boy, and completely conscious; but I imagine I'm going to need you just the same."

"You want me to hold him down."

"Yes."

Moving slowly, Diana began to lower the knife but stopped. "Tobias. Go outside and warn the townspeople that there is going to be screaming and to not panic. Hurry back." Quickly, he did so.

"All right." She said, once he had returned. "Hold his arms and legs down, yes just like that. Are you ready?" He nodded. "Then here we go." With incredible dexterity, Diana made the first several cuts before Raki even registered the pain. Once he did however, it was 10 times worse than anything else he had ever experienced. The blade cut hot through tender and swollen skin, both burning and cutting the infected area. The teeth of the knife caught on half-dead flesh and ripped it away from its living counterparts. A mixture of pus and fresh blood escaped from the incision, gushing painfully.

"Aaaauuugh!" Raki thrashed wildly away from the knife.

"Hold him down!" Diana yelled. Tobias quickly grabbed the flailing boy and gripped his arms tightly. Diana set to work again, methodically washing away blood and pus before slicing away at the infected areas.

To Raki, it felt like someone was rubbing a pumice rock into his wound before sawing his flesh away with a bread knife.

After the initial scream, Diana was surprised to find that the boy didn't utter a single sound. This was because Raki had regained consciousness. The pain of the first incision that sparked the scream had had also cut through his fevered dreams and exhaustion. At first he had been confused, but quickly realized that he was being helped. So with every ounce of his willpower, and there was plenty, he focused on keeping his body still and breathing through his nose. It felt like hours, but soon Diana was done. She washed his wound with a pungent stinging liquid and ordered Tobias to let Raki go.

Slowly, Raki cracked open his eyes. A middle-aged woman and man were standing over him. The woman was carefully tending to his throbbing shoulder. He gingerly turned his head to look at her. As he watched, she dipped the tips of her fingers into a jar, and spread a cool salve across the wound. Almost immediately, the pain began to numb into a dull throb. Trusting himself to speak, Raki managed to croak, "Thank you."

Startled, the woman looked up to meet her patient's eyes. For a moment, she didn't breathe. His eyes were dry, but so sad. He had some of the saddest eyes she had ever seen. This boy, she knew, had known pain. His eyes were sad, but in no way were they self-pitying. In fact, it was easy to see that he had an unmovable determination. My god, she thought, had he been during the conscious during the surgery? Diana shook her head. That was impossible. No sane person could stay awake during something like that. Still, she wondered.

"Aaah- You're welcome." She said. Exhausted, Raki just smiled and laid his head against the table, falling asleep immediately. A bit uneasily, Diana finished bandaging his wound. "Tobias," she said. "You may go now if you wish. I can take care of everything else."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Well alright then." He started to leave, but paused at the door. "I'll bring you and the boy some breakfast soon. From the bakery."

"Thank you Tobias."

"It's nothing." He said, and then left.

Sighing, Diana set to cleaning up the mess.


	5. Chapter 5

Despite the fact that Raki just had his shoulder thoroughly excavated with a kitchen knife, he slept extremely well. His sleep was blissfully dream-free and when he woke it was slowly, peacefully. With a great yawn, Raki sat up slowly and stretched, careful not to jar his shoulder. He had been sleeping in a small quilted bed pushed into the corner of a tiny room. The room was small but very cozy; a fire burned in a stone hearth and spread warmth throughout the whole room. Faintly blushing, Raki realized he was wearing a different set of clothes. His regular clothes, knife, sword, and pack were propped against the far wall. With another great yawn, he stood up only to sit right back down, head spinning. Blinking rapidly he waited for his eyes to refocus before trying again.

After a couple moments Raki's eyesight cleared, and he carefully stood back up, bracing himself against the wall. Sighing, he padded barefoot across the room, one hand trailing against the fine wood wall. Raki hastily stuffed his old clothes into his pack and strapped his knife around his waist, then his sword across his back.

Two rooms over, Diana was at the hearth making tea. _Well_, she thought, _tea is sort of a general term in this case._ At the sound of a muffled creek, Diana turned to see Raki peeking furtively from behind a door.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "Come in! How did you sleep?"

Rather sheepishly, Raki stepped into the room, eyes downcast. With a note of sadness, Diana saw that the boy was already dressed in his travelers cloak. Giving a slight bow, the boy said,

"Please excuse me. I have burdened you."

"No… not at all." Striving for something else to say, she finally settled on, "Tell me boy, what is your name? I'm Diana."

Flustered, Raki apologized, "I'm sorry. My name is Raki."

"No problem." She said waving it off, "Here I have some breakfast. Are you hungry Raki?" Now that she mentioned it… Raki realized that he was hungry. _Really _hungry.

"Uum."

Diana laughed, apparently reading his mind. "Don't worry about money. You're my patient, so go on, eat up."

Raki gratefully walked to the table and removed his sword and cloak. _I can't burden this woman any longer. I'll eat breakfast, because she made it for me, but I need to leave after that._ To his utter delight, Diana had prepared a hot breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and warm biscuits. Raki couldn't remember the last time he had had such a meal. Even when traveling with Clare, hot meals had been far and few between for a number of reasons. They were constantly on the road, and slept on the road most nights, but also because Clare ate so little, and the last thing Raki wanted to do was burden Clare further by constantly asking for hot meals. So he had happily lived off of dried meat and stale bread for the majority of their time spent together. The hot biscuits and cooked eggs were so beautiful he almost didn't want to ruin the sight by eating them. Almost.

Diana sat down at the table across from Raki; his expression must've been funny because she laughed.

"You look like a blind man who's just seen the sun for the first time!" She smiled kindly at Raki for a moment and then helped him load his plate down with food. Determined to savor every bite, Raki chewed his first bite of egg in bliss.

Diana laughed again "Haven't had a hot meal in a while?" she guessed.

"I can't remember the last time I had a meal like this," Raki admitted between mouthfuls. Looking around, Raki wasn't surprised to see shelves full of herbs and tools for making medicine scattered across counters. It was obvious this woman was some sort of doctor.

"These eggs are from my own chickens," Diana continued, "and the biscuits were made fresh by the local baker. He was the one who carried you from outside of town to here." Diana's smile faded softly. "If you don't mind me asking Raki," she said "how did you get that wound on your shoulder?"

Glancing at the heavily bandaged wound, Raki swallowed the bite had been chewing. "A fox attacked me. I managed to kill it but not before it bit me." Fingering a loose bit of wrap, he added, "I didn't wash or bandage it properly and it got infected. But I'm guessing you know that."

Diana nodded slowly, "Yours was one of the worst infections I have ever seen. A little longer and it would have entered your bloodstream."

"How long was I out?"

"About three days."

Raki took another bite, chewing slowly, and then swallowing before speaking. "I cannot thank you enough for helping me. I know you had no reason to help an injured stranger, but you saved my life and although I don't have much money, if I can repay you in any way I'll do it." And he meant it. At the moment Raki's most prized possession was his life. He would do anything to continue living. After all, he had someone very important counting on him. So of course, his gratefulness at being allowed to live a little longer was huge.

Diana took a small bite of egg from her own plate and said nothing for a moment. Glancing at the young boys face she smiled and said finally, "Don't worry Raki. I'm doing really well in this town. I can afford to help a sick stranger without putting them in debt." She hesitated for a moment and then looked directly into Raki's eyes. "I know it is none of my business, but… I'd love to hear your story Raki. I sense you have a very good one. Am I right?"

Slightly confused, Raki asked, "what do you want know?"

"Well," she began, "for starters, I'd like to know how a young kid like you began traveling on his own anyway."

"Oh. That."

"Yes, that."

"Hmm. Where do I start?" Raki scratched his head and laughed uncertainly. "I guess it all began when my village sent out a request for a claymore."

"A claymore? So there was a yoma infestation then?"

Raki didn't get a chance to answer as a loud hissing noise filled the room.

"Oh!" Diana said. "I forgot about the tea!" She quickly left the table and hurried to the fire, removing a brass kettle with a large oven mitt. Gingerly opening the lid, she gave sigh of relief. "Oh, good. I was worried that it might've burned." _Burned? _Raki thought, _how can tea burn?_ He got his answer moments later when the smell hit him.

"Aauugh!" Raki immediately retched at the terrible stench. Plugging his nose, Raki grimaced when he realized it was no use. The smell of garlic, rotten fruit, decayed meat and urine was so strong he could _taste _it. Even from across the room.

"Oh hush." Diana said "This isn't anything but a bit of garlic!" Humming softly, she poured the thick liquid into a wooden cup. Horrified, Raki watched the lumpy substance ooze out of the kettle and, to his further horrification, stick at the mouth of the spout.

"Oh come on," muttered Diana. With a firm shake, she convinced the liquid into the cup. It fell as one disgusting glob. "There we go!" She said satisfied.

Eyes wide, Raki watched as she carried the cup closer, the stench steadily growing. Holding back a retch, Raki scooted away as she set the cup down in front of him. His worst fears were realized when she said:

"Alright, drink up."

"What?!"

Giving him a blank stare, she said, "Garlic helps cure infection. Drink it."

"I-I can't… _drink_ that! It'll poison me! I'll puke it up!"

"If you puke it up Raki," she said dangerously "I'll make you drink it again. And believe me; it won't taste any better the second time." Shrinking back, Raki's gaze shifted between the foamy drink and Diana's face. During his short life, Raki had charged a yoma, been stranded in a desert, and fought a claymore, but he had never seen anything as frightening as this woman's steely gaze. Stomach clenching, Raki reached for the wooden cup, Diana's eyes following his every move.

Suddenly, there came a large pounding at the front door. Diana got up from the table to answer it, and Raki nearly collapsed from relief. _I'm… I'm saved!_ From the door, Raki heard Diana and someone else talking. He could just make out there voices.

"Hey, Diana. I just wanted to check up on the boy. Is he awake yet?"

"Yes. You can come in if you want, Tobias."

"Thanks." The voices drew nearer. "So has he eaten anyth- Oh my god! What is that awful stench?!"

From his slumped position, Raki saw Diana and a largish man round the corner. The man had both hands covering his mouth and nose. Diana sighed and didn't answer. Looking closer, Raki felt that he recognized the man, and then he remembered that a large man held him down when Diana cut at his wound. _This guy must be him_ he thought.

Straitening, Raki said, "hello."

Tobias removed his hands from his face and said, "Hello. You give us in the town quite a scare… uh. What's your name?"

"My name's Raki."

"Tobias. Nice to meet you"

"Likewise."

"Enough with the pleasantries!" Diana interrupted. "Raki! If you think that Tobias' arrival has gotten you out of drinking that tea you have another thing coming!" Actually, that had been what Raki was thinking. _Aww, crap. I'm not getting out of this am I. Oh, well._ Before he could lose his nerve, Raki shot his hand out like a snake and grabbed the cup. With his other hand he plugged his nose. Quicker than Diana or Tobias could follow, Raki tilted the cup back and poured the lumpy substance down his throat. The foul liquid (if it could even be called that) slid slowly down into his mouth. To his dismay, Raki was unable to finish it in one go the way he wanted to. With a gasp he pounded the half-full cup down onto the table. Fighting the urge to barf, he breathed through his mouth, the pungent odor filling his nose, despite the fact that it was plugged. With a long, ragged breath, Raki brought the cup to his lips and drank.

Across the table, Diana and Tobias shared a surprised look. With the way Raki had been acting earlier, she had expected to have to force it down his throat, but the boy had just drunken one of her strongest remedies like it was nothing. Tobias had caught on quickly, it became apparent that the cup was the source of the foul smell, and just watching Raki drink that made him feel sick. Slowly, Raki set down the drained cup. "Can I have some water please?" he asked.

Diana fetched him some, and Raki concentrated on not puking. Once his stomach had settled a bit, he took a sip of the water, only to spit it back into the cup. "It still tastes like I'm drinking the garlic."

Regaining her composure, Diana nodded. "It'll probably be like that for a while. If you'd like, I could get you some mint leaves to chew on, that might help a bit."

"Yes, please."

"Alright then," Diana said handing him a few leaves, which he gratefully accepted. Would you mind continuing your story from earlier?"

"What story?" Raki and Tobias asked at the same time.

Annoyed, Diana glared at both of them. "_Your _story Raki. You had just started it when the tea finished and Tobias came in. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah. It's not that interesting though, I don't really know why you want to hear it."

"Humor me."

"Yeah I want to hear it to." Tobias said.

Sighing, Raki said "Well, alright then." Actually, Raki knew that his story was probably very interesting, but the last thing he wanted to do was re-tell it. He knew that no matter how kind, most people were very suspicious of claymores and those associated with them. Not to mention the fact that talking about his adventures with Clare would open new wounds and leave him depressed and moody. But Diana and Tobias had saved his life, and asked for almost nothing in return. So he told them.

"A little over a year ago I was happily living in Doga, my village. Then a yoma came. My parents were the first victims." Diana and Tobias shared a look, but Raki paid them no heed. "After a while, we called for a claymore to come and exterminate it." As he spoke Raki grew more and more distant, locking himself in his own world; it was like Diana and Tobias weren't even there. "She arrived very quickly. And I remember when I first saw her I thought… I thought, there's no way she's a monster like everyone says. She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. So I talked to her, and she was very kind. When I went back home that day, I found my uncle, whom my brother and I had been staying with, dead. Eaten. My brother was the yoma. He killed my parents and left me alive, as a sort of shield I guess. Obviously, I wasn't eaten. The claymore smelled the yoma on me and followed me home. She killed him and saved me."

Scratching his head, Raki continued smiling faintly. "The claymore's name was Clare, by the way, and she left shortly after her job was done. After she left…" Raki's face hardened "The people of my village grew suspicious of me. 'the one's to fear most are the one's closest to the yoma,' they said. So they threw me out. They left me for dead in the wastelands, people I had known all my life, friends, relatives, I used to think they were good people. I would have died in those wastelands too, but…" For the first time since he had started talking, Raki looked directly at his two listeners. They stared at him intently, hanging on his every word. "Clare saved me" Tobias gasped, but Diana nodded as if it made sense. From the way Raki had spoken of her the first time, she knew this 'Clare' person had a larger role in the story. "So in the end I ended up traveling with Clare for a while. She let me stay with her as a cook, although that was a bit of a lie, because she hardly ever needed to eat. We went to all sorts of places… even Rabona. That's where I got this sword actually." Raki said, holding it up.

"Wait a minute!" Tobias interrupted "I thought claymores weren't allowed in Rabona!"

"They're not. We went in disguise. Anyway, we traveled together for a while, but were recently forced to separate. I've been on my own since then, going from place to place asking if any warriors have passed through lately or any humans traveling alone, because she could be disguised."

"You're looking for her?" Diana said, aghast.

"Yes. We promised that we would find each other again."

Diana's face screwed into one of confusion. "but… wouldn't you rather... you know… stay in a nice village with other humans? Other _people?"_

"Not really."

Shocked, Diana sat back in her chair. Tobias looked equally flabbergasted. Inwardly, Raki sighed. He had known it would be like this, but still, their reactions bothered him. _Why can't humans recognize the sacrifices warriors make for them? Warriors give up everything for humans, only to be treated like monsters themselves! It's disgusting. _

Diana studied Raki silently. Her shrewd mind broke him down into variables, and finally she came to a disturbing conclusion. _He's in love with the claymore. _There was no other explanation. The way he acted when he talked about her; his eyes crinkled around the edges, and a smile ghosted over his lips, only to suddenly disappear, as if realizing all over again that she was not there. Diana's jaw tightened, and she scowled. _In love! With one of those creatures! It doesn't matter if she saved him, claymore's are still yoma after all._

Silently, Raki traced a pattern on the wooden table. Heavy silence filled the air, and he had a pretty good idea of what Diana and Tobias were thinking. Tobias finally broke the silence. With a great guffaw, he slapped Raki heartily on the back.

"What's the solemn look for kid? You too Diana! I'd swear we were headed to a funeral!" He slapped Raki on the back again, rather painfully.

"Ow. Well," Raki said, "Thank you so much for everything, but I think it is best if I leave now. I don't want to further inconvenience anybody, and-"

"Stop right there!" Diana stood up so fast that her chair clattered carelessly to the floor. Her index finger inches from Raki's nose she yelled, "You, Raki are going nowhere! Your shoulder still hasn't healed completely and you need to rest!"

"But, I-"

"NO BUTS! You are my patient and until you are fully healed, you're not going anywhere!"

Raki groped for something to say, some argument that would change her mind, but he got none. Finally he managed, "Ah, when will my shoulder be healed enough for travel?"

"When I say so."

For the next several days, Raki stayed with Diana. He helped her organize her herbs and ointments, and with the cooking and cleaning. Diana was by far, the most competent doctor he had ever met, but she hated to cook; so Raki made their meals. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed cooking for others and attacked his task with gusto. Whenever someone came in looking for treatment, Diana patiently took care of them, and after the first day, she started teaching Raki.

"Look Raki," she would say "_this_ plant soothes a cough. And _that _one helps indigestion." Raki paid close attention to everything she said, he reasoned that if he was to take care of himself, a basic know-how of medicinal herbs was a must. He paid special attention to the plants that treated wounds so he would never be in such a position where his life was in danger from an untreated wound. As much as he wanted to learn, Raki also wanted to leave. As the days passed, he grew more and more fidgety. His wound was healing with no apparent problems, but much too slowly. At night, he stared up at the dark ceiling and contemplated simply leaving, slipping out the back door and disappearing into the night. But he never did. It would hurt Diana too much, and besides, there were a lot worse things he could be doing while letting his wound heal.

On the fifth day, Diana unwrapped his bandages and gave a loud, heavy sigh.

"What is it?" Raki asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"No. Your wound is healed Raki."

"Really?!" Raki twisted around to examine his shoulder. The bite was as healthy looking as any wound could be. The skin had scabbed over several days ago, and now the scab was shrinking away to reveal fresh white skin.

"It's going to scar," she warned. "But other than that you should be fine."

"Wow!" Raki looked directly at Diana and was shocked to see tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. With a heavy heart, Raki said "Diana, thank you so much for everything. I can't even begin to show you how grateful I am."

"Raki… you don't have to leave you know." Diana said quietly. "You can stay here. I'll teach you everything I know about medicine. I've never particularly wanted children, but I wouldn't mind if… if you were my son." Diana stepped forward and enveloped Raki in a hug. You can stay here, Raki. You can have a life, a _family_ with this town."

Raki gulped. "Diana, I…"

"You can stay here Raki. We'll take care of you. You can stay."

Raki swallowed a lump forming in his throat "I can't Diana. You know that. I have to go."

"No you don't!" Diana pulled away, holding Raki's shoulders at arm's length. "You don't have to find her Raki! She's not even human! You'll be safer, _happier,_ here!"

Raki sighed and stepped away. "You don't understand."

"I do. I've been in love before too, you know." Startled, Raki looked up at Diana, and then down at the floor, blushing.

After a long silence, Diana sighed. "Forgive me Raki. I'm being selfish. It's okay if you leave, I don't want to make you feel guilty."

Raki wrapped his small arms around the woman's waist. "Thank you."

Raki left that afternoon. Diana insisted on giving him a bit of money and food. She also gave him a small bundle of herbs, which she carefully reminded him of each of their uses. Tobias came over and gave Raki a fresh loaf of bread as well. So Raki strapped on his sword and knife, put on his cloak and walked to the outskirts of town with the pair. They stood there for a moment, and then Tobias gave him a hearty slap on the back, causing Raki to stumble forward slightly.

"Well!" Tobias said, "I guess this is the end of our bit of excitement in town!"

"Stupid!" Diana punched him the arm and Raki laughed.

"I can't thank the two of you enough," Raki said "I'll never forget either of you."

"We'll never forget you either, Raki." Diana said

"I'll come back and visit sometime," Raki said. "Maybe even with Clare!" He beamed at Tobias and Diana, who smiled back. "I… I should go now."

Diana hugged him one last time. "Good-bye Raki."

"See ya later kid!" Tobias said.

Raki smiled, then turned around and followed the road north. He didn't look back.


	6. Chapter 6

Raki traveled all day, following the road north. He made excellent time and was pleased that his shoulder barely affected him at all. Just the same, he stopped twice to change his bandages and rinse the healing wound with water._ There is no way I'm going to get careless now, after it's just gotten better. _The sun shone brightly and white clouds drifted lazily across the sky. The forest around him was lively with life. Birds flitted from tree branches greeting each other with song, rabbits ducked through the undergrowth nibbling on grass. Once, Raki saw a female deer. It stood on the edge of the road, not quite in the forest and not quite out of it either. The deer was eating from a berry bush and it looked up at Raki as he approached from down the road. Apparently it decided he was not a threat because it resumed eating before he had even passed. _You're lucky I have no way to carry you._ The deer flicked its ears in agreement. Cool wind blew against Raki's cheeks and shifted his hair around his face. It had grown longer, he noticed.

After being cooped up in the town for so long, Raki found pleasure in being on the road again. Walking in general and simply getting his muscles warmed up and tired felt good. _I got lazy at Diana's _He thought sheepishly. _Speaking of Diana…_Raki rifled through is pack until he found what he was looking for. _Ah, here we go._ Pulling out a few mint leaves, Raki smiled. Ever since he had drunk that horrid garlic tea, almost everything he ate smelled of the stuff. Mint leaves seemed to be the only thing that would get the taste out of his mouth. Soon enough the day grew colder, and sun began its slow descent towards the western horizon. The road had been quiet all day, and he had seen few travelers; those he had seen, hurried along with barely a crossword to Raki.

Venturing into the woods, Raki found a spacious clearing and set up camp. He rolled out his bedroll and ate some of the fox's meat. He had given the foxes pelt and some meat to Diana, but there was still plenty left. The night wasn't all that cold, so Raki decided against a fire. Instead, he wrapped himself in his cloak and watched stars appear in the dimming sky. Cautious wind rustled the branches above and Raki's eyes began to droop. Perhaps it was his time spent in the town, or perhaps it was the peaceful atmosphere he had traveled in all day, but he felt safe sleeping under the trees again.

Raki awoke early the next morning refreshed. For breakfast, he ate half of the loaf of bread Tobias had given him. It was filled with nuts and raisins and very tasty. After his breakfast, Raki diligently packed his belongings and started for the road again. Much like the previous day, he made excellent progress. Raki walked the entire day, and passed through two towns. After brief questions in each, Raki discovered that no warriors passed through, nor humans traveling alone recently. So he moved on. When night fell, Raki set up camp and slept. He traveled far and fast the next day as well, and as night took the forest, he slept soundly.

On the third morning, the sun peeked over the horizon lazily and spread its warmth across the land, its light illuminating the underside of trees. Raki's body recognized the dawn, and he was pulled from his dreams back into reality. With a yawn, Raki sat up and stretched his stiff muscles.

"Aaah." He said aloud. "Time to be off again."

It was shaping up to be a beautiful day, and Raki was already thinking about how to cover the most ground. _Hmm. Yesterday I probably walked about seven or so leagues. The terrain seems to be getting a bit rougher, so even if I travel at the same pace as yesterday I might not cover as much ground. In that case, I'll pick it up a bit._ Raki started walking faster._ I'm heading north now, and that's not exactly where I want to go. At the next town, I'll inquire about a road heading north-west. I wonder if I'm covering too much ground? Every day I'm getting farther from where we were separated. Would Clare know to look so far from where that place to where I am now? Then again, I took quite a break at Diana's. Well, she told me to go this way anyhow, so I should keep moving._

As Raki mulled over these thoughts, the scenery around him began to change. Thus far he had been walking on a dirt road with forests on either side, but the trees slowly began to fade away, until Raki found himself facing wide rolling plains as far as his eyes could see.

"Wow." Raki stopped short and stared at the landscape. "There's so much space." Wind swept across the grass and tousled Raki's hair. Plume-shaped clouds moved across the blue sky, following the wind. Way off in the distance, Raki could see a town. _I wonder if I can make it to that village by nightfall…_

Unfortunately for Raki, he did not make it to the village by night fall; he would have, but as it often was with him, Raki was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since he left the forest, the terrain had grown more treacherous. Rather than walking on soft pine needles and dirt, the road was littered with loose rocks. Focusing on keeping his footing, he nearly missed the sound of galloping horses.

Twenty horsemen pounded across the plain behind Raki, galloping at full speed. Eyes wide, Raki turned around at the sudden pounding of the earth and was nearly run over by a large black mare. Heart pounding, Raki watched the riders. Every single person was a man; there were no women, no children. They all brandished large weapons ranging from swords, to spears and crossbows. With a sinking feeling Raki watched one of the horses, the same one who nearly ran him over, wheel around and gallop in the opposite direction. Strait towards Raki. Nervously, he turned and ran off the path. Whoever these people were, they were obviously trouble; and Raki didn't want anything to do with them.

The horse was approaching at breakneck speed, and any hope Raki had that the man would continue on past him faded when he unsheathed a very mean looking sword. Raki turned and ran, but quickly realized that running was futile. He had nowhere to go. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and before he knew what he was doing, Raki unsheathed his own sword. Still running, the hairs on the back of Raki's neck suddenly stood on end and he instinctively swung his body and sword around. The dark horse loomed over Raki's small frame, and the rider raised his sword in preparation for a downward slash. Raki didn't have time to think. He brought his sword up over his head and barely managed to block a fierce cut that would have split his skull. He blocked it, but the force behind the blow knocked him to the ground.

"ugh." Raki scrambled back to his feet expecting another strike, but the horse was still moving forward, and it carried the rider, and his sword, away. Raki glared after the mysterious rider. _He just tried to kill me! _Raki fumed. _What's his problem? Could they be… bandits? _ Raki looked back to the main group of riders. They weren't moving, and instead just sat there, apparently watching. Raki gritted his teeth and turned back to the first rider. His horse had come to a stop about a hundred yards away, and as he watched, the rider spurred the beast forward. _He's going to charge again! _Still keeping his grip on the sword, Raki unclasped his cloak and let it fall to the ground, then shrugged off his pack and it too, fell to the ground.

Finally unburdened, Raki took a readying stance he had often seen Clare use. _Well, I guess all those months of carefully observing won't go to waste after all!_ Swallowing his rising panic, Raki watched the rider approach, slower than before, but still fast. Within seconds, he was there. The bandit swung his sword down, in a diagonal swipe meant to cleave off Raki's head. The sword rushed downwards, and suddenly, Raki had all the time in the world. He saw the man's face, fierce, rugged, but not ugly. The horse's flank gleamed with sweat and its sides heaved with heavy panting. Its hooves pounded a slow, steady beat against the treacherous rock.

Raki remembered his fight with Ophelia. It had been different than this, that battle had been against a claymore capable of killing a human before they could blink, but choosing not to; instead playing with him, teasing him until she would finally grow bored, then finally killing her prey. Raki still wasn't sure how this particular battle had begun, but he knew how it would end. This wasn't a battle he had no chance of winning, this was a battle between two humans, maybe they weren't completely equal, but he could win. _I will win._ Raki understood all this in the split second it took for him to deflect the blow to his head with his own sword.

The horse continued on and the man growled in rage. Further down the road, the large group of riders burst into laughter.

"What's wrong Conor? One of the other men yelled, "Can't you take out the little guy?" The other men laughed and Raki's attacker, 'Conor' growled at them but said nothing. Slowly, as if forcing himself to remain calm, the bandit turned his horse around to face Raki. Raki stood ready, adrenaline making the swords heavy weight seem slight. The group of bandits edged their horses forward, perhaps expecting a bit of entertainment. _Dammit. I really should run. _Raki glanced quickly over his shoulder, looking for an escape route. He found none_. If I continue fighting, the guy called Conor will either kill me, or I'll kill him and then his comrades will kill me. _The circle of horses drew nearer. Conor approached Raki on his own horse at a walking pace and stopped fifteen feet away.

"Damn you." The bandit said. "If you had died with that first blow, I would have been initiated, and you wouldn't have had to suffer."

Raki said nothing and gripped his sword tighter. Behind Conor, the other bandits drew nearer.

Conor noticed as well, and scowled at Raki. "Damn you…" He dismounted from his horse and walked closer. "Now they want a show. You've brought this upon yourself I hope you know."

Raki silently calculated his chances._. He's much bigger than me, I'll probably have a speed advantage, but he'll have the strength. I probably shouldn't even try to block his blows with my sword. He's too heavy. Conor is going to kill me unless I do something… _Raki glanced at the group of bandits. _If I somehow manage to defeat him, there are still those guys to consider. I'm trapped in a corner. What should I do?_

Conor charged. With a heavy swing, he swung his broadsword up from the ground at a diagonal angle. Raki jumped backwards out of the way, and tentatively raised his own sword. _Should I attack?_ Conor yelled and swung again, aiming at Raki's head. Raki ducked, and carefully maneuvered himself out of the way. _This guy is pretty slow. I wonder… can I kill him? _The bandits were close now. They circled around the dueling pair like vultures, watching the battle with leering gazes. _If I kill him… will they let me go? …No, they won't. Bandits aren't the sort to let a person go free._

"Come on Conor!" one man yelled "Cleave em' in two! No mercy!"

"Make him suffer!" Another yelled

Money exchanged quarreling hands, and the watchers placed bets on the outcome.

"Hey, Conor! Don't lose! I have money on you!"

"Come on little guy! Put up a good fight!"

Conor's eyes flickered nervously to his companions, and he licked his chapped lips, but didn't say anything. All at once, his gaze hardened, and he dashed forward, swinging his sword wildly. Raki dodged the first swing, but was forced to block the second. _Can I kill him…?_ The bandits cheered wildly and more money was exchanged.

"Get under his guard Conor! Prove yourself to us!"

Conor attacked again, and Raki was forced back by the sheer strength of his blows. _Can I kill him? _Raki successfully maneuvered out of the next attack without meeting swords. Conor's face scrunched with rage, _Can I kill? _Conor attacked_, _his faced contorted with rage.

Raki dropped his sword.

The men in the circle gasped.

With a victorious cry, Conor lunged blindly forward, leaving himself open on his left side. Too late, Conor realized his lethal mistake. Raki dashed forward, barehanded, and ducked under Conor's wild lunge. In one fluid movement, he unsheathed his hunting knife from its sheath on his hip and plunged it into Conor's leg. _I will not kill if I don't have to._

Conor fell to the ground howling with pain. Raki jumped forward and kicked the wounded man's sword from his grip. It landed with a dull clang at the foot of another bandit. Dashing back to where his sword lay, Raki picked it up, the familiar weight easing his nerves some. The bandits were silent. Suddenly they erupted into frenzied noise.

"The kid won!"

"You owe me two beras!"

"Foul play! He dropped his sword as a trick!"

"Pay up!"

"Ha hah! That loser Conor lost!"

"I knew his sword-play was lousy, but jeez!"

"Damn you Conor! If you don't bleed to death I'm going to kill you!"

The bandits erupted into fierce arguing, seemingly forgetting Raki and their howling companion. Edging to the edge of the road, Raki wondered if he could slip away before anyone noticed. An ugly man with a dirty beard suddenly dismounted and approached Conor. Raki thought he was going to help his companion, but gasped when the bearded man punched Conor in the jaw. The force threw him backward and the man grabbed Conor by the collar and yelled in his face.

"You spongy toed, milk livered, oily faced _sonofabitch_!" The man kicked Conor squarely in the ribs, and Conor recoiled, whimpering like a dog.

The other bandits looked on and did nothing. "I'll kill you!" The man spat in Conor's face and viciously yanked Raki's Knife from Conor's leg. Conor bawled and tears fled down his face. "Shaddap!" The man yelled mercilessly. Conor quieted, whimpering softly on the ground.

Raki was scared. He was more scared now than he had been fighting Conor. These weren't men. They were monsters. Raki backed away quickly, hoping without hope that he could somehow get away.

"Hey!" One of the men yelled, "Where do ya think you're going? Get back here!" Every head swiveled to Raki. He turned and ran.

"Get him!" A voice yelled. "But do _not _kill him!"

It was hopeless, Raki knew that, but he wasn't just going to give in without a fight. So when the bandits gave chase, he attacked with his full might.

"Aaaaaah!" Raki swung his sword at the wooden shaft of a spear, cleaving off its pointed end.

"Hey!" The spear's owner yelled.

Raki elbowed a dismounted rider in the face, and knocked his sword from his grip. Surprised at the sudden ferocity of the boy, the bandits fell back for a moment, only to quickly recollect and approach with a more organized chase. Three men still on horses looped around and blocked his path of escape, while four others worked to rid Raki of his sword. A largely muscled man flicked Raki's sword effortlessly away with a large broadsword and smirked.

"It's over, kid. Now come on back, you got nowhere to run."

Raki lunged at him.

Two hours later, Raki was sitting on the outskirts of one of two campfires. The sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, and stars were beginning to appear faintly overhead. It was a beautiful night, but Raki was far from appreciating it. Bound and gagged, Raki bore a black eye, a split lip, a swollen jaw, and an overall badly bruised body. With his hands tied together behind his back, Raki sat upright with his legs folded, as far from the bandits as he could manage. Which wasn't far. Raki's left leg was at the end of a long bit rope, the other end was tied to a large ring on the bearded man's hip. Every time Raki moved, the violent man felt it and gave a vicious tug on the rope, slowly tightening the knot and breaking Raki's circulation to his foot. Raki stayed absolutely still now, listening intently to the men's conversations. He gnawed silently at his gag, moving his jaw up and down, scissoring away at the foul cloth that polluted his mouth. The motion would probably break the cloth eventually, but for now all it was doing was rubbing his lips raw.

The bandits had already gone through his bag and taken all the food and money. Someone had claimed his hunting knife; another had the Rabona sword strapped to his waist. The bandits had taken one look at the pouch containing Diana's herbs and crushed them into the dirt. No one moved to help Conor, and as far as Raki knew, he was still lying wounded in the middle of the road. _Actually, he's probably dead now. Unless he managed to stop the bleeding. _Despite everything, Raki found himself hoping that Conor was still alive.

Night had fallen, and the group split into two, each with their own fire. The campfire closest to Raki had a large bird roasting over it, and every minute or so, someone asked if it was done. The other fire had a similar creature cooking and they too, were impatient to eat. The smell of cooking meat wafted to where Raki was sitting and his stomach growled. A fight broke out around the fire and the bandits watched disinterestedly. Raki gnawed at his gag. The fight was eventually broken up, and the men returned to their conversations.

"… So I told that bastard, 'I'll show you how a real man sucker punches!' And he said…"

"You still owe me 2 beras from that last bet! Now you owe me 3 more, so that's 6 beras…"

"Look buddy, I have no idea how your sister got pregnant…"

Raki listened, jumping from conversation to conversation. So far, nothing anyone said proved to be of any significance. His disgust grew with each and every word they uttered, though.

Raki suddenly heard someone mention Conor's name.

"That wimp. He couldn't kill a baby lamb if we gave it to him gift wrapped. I say it's a good thing we came across the brat when we did." Raki listened attentively. "I told him, 'are you going to let a person get in your way like that Conor?' and the chief said, 'go kill him.' He looked so scared! I knew right then he wasn't going to pass the initiation, so I bet 2 beras against him. And I was right! With the money Kero owes me, I'm going to pay a visit to one of them…" Raki stopped listening. _So I was right. Conor wasn't a full member of this group. Killing me was supposed to be his 'in' ticket. How stupid. Does killing people earn you status among bandits?_

Raki's thoughts were cut off at the sound of excited yelling. Looking up sharply, he saw that the birds had been declared cooked, and any sense of orderliness that had remained in the camp was abandoned. Looking away, Raki did his best to still his hunger pains. _Come on, _he told himself, _you've had worse. _Thankfully, the breeze shifted after a couple of moments, and the smell of cooked meat was carried away. Raki sighed and looked up at the stars. Though it was dark, he could make out fast moving clouds as they sailed across the sky.

_Clare…What should I do now?_

"Hey boss!" One of the men said. "What are we gonna do with the brat anyway?" Raki looked sharply towards the fire. The bearded man holding his rope was talking to a bandit at the other campfire.

"Yeah." Someone else said, "why didn't we just kill him?"

Silhouetted against the fire, a tall, thin, man rose to his feet and walked over. He was followed closely by an equally thin, but somewhat shorter man. "Because Marcus," the tallest man walked on past the fire and approached the bound prisoner. Raki looked up from the ground, his gag stifling any words he would have uttered. The bandit loomed over the boy, a handsome face obscured by a cruel smirk. He bent down and gripped Raki's jaw. "There is…" His forefinger and thumb pressed down on Raki's bruises, "a _very _good market for slaves where we're heading."


	7. Chapter 7

In the dark flickering light of the campfire, Raki's eyes widened, and his breath shallowed. _S… Slavery? _ If every mother and father on the continent feared that their untimely death would bring their daughters to the doors of the organization, then they also feared their son's demise as a slave in the northern lands. Fear gripped Raki's heart as tightly as the ropes gripped his wrists. Slavery. He had heard stories as a child, stories of orphan boys plucked off of the streets by slave traders, rushed to the northern coal mines, and worked to death. _Slavery?!_ There was no worse fate on the continent. At least, if he were a girl, he would have some chance to live as a claymore. But… slavery meant endless cold night's deep underground, losing fingers and toes to the depthless cold. It meant watching others get crushed by cave-ins, while you narrowly escaped yourself. It meant choking on ash while your friends coughed out thin trails of black vomit. It meant endless hunger with no reprieve from the pain. It meant a cold, lonely death.

Raki jerked his head out of the man's grip. _No! _He wanted to yell, _No! I can't go there! I can't go to the north!_ Seeing his reaction, the leader of the bandits laughed

"Scared are we? Oh, don't worry," he spoke with kindness "You're in excellent physical condition, so you'll last about a year!" He threw back his head and laughed. Raki forced down the bile that rose in his throat and examined the man in front of him. He was tall, and thin, and very handsome. He had long blond hair which was pulled back into a low ponytail. His face was thin and oval and his skin completely devoid of any sort of blemish. Raki thought this was somewhat strange for a bandit. His eyes, which were blue, danced merrily with the crazed joy of a murderer. The men around him laughed hesitantly along with their leader.

"Eh… boss…" The violent bandit holding Raki's rope shuffled his feet uncomfortably "What do we need to get into the slave market for? I mean, we're doin' pretty good with just the normal stuff. Lootin' and killin' I mean." The boss shook his head like a parent whose child had just asked a ridiculous, but amusing question.

"All of you! Picture this:" The thin man gestured wildly with his hands "imagine if instead of killing all the young boys in the towns we rob, we sell them for over fifty beras _each._ Sometimes more!" All around the camp, eyes boggled as this apparently genius revelation. The boss beamed at his dumbstruck followers in the low fire light.

Horrified, Raki stared wide eyed at the exalted greedy expressions that appeared on each of the bandits faces.

"That's genius boss!" Someone called out.

"Isn't it! Although," the boss admitted with a pout, "the idea wasn't completely mine alone... Kero suggested it to me and we worked out the kinks together."

All eyes turned to the shorter wiry man standing behind the boss. _Kero… somehow I feel like I've heard that name before._

"All right Kero!" some of the men cheered, clapping the silhouetted figure on the back. Raki squinted, trying to make out his face. "Hey! How'd ya come up with such a great idea Kero?"

The man turned to glare at the back-clappers. "My father happened to be slave trader!" he snarled "I've told you all this!" The bandits stared at him blankly. "Forget it!" Kero snapped. _I…definitely recognize that voice from somewhere… Wait! Kero! That was the guy who I met at the first town! He was the jerk who wanted to kill me or whatever! Could this guy be him?! _Raki got his answer moments later when Kero stepped forward into the light next to the boss. Yes, it was him. He had cruel eyes, a fast smirk, and wide mouth which reminded Raki of a snake eating a rat. Raki's eyes narrowed and he hissed through his gag.

Kero stared down at Raki with a disgustingly satisfied look on his face. Apparently, he remembered Raki as well. Kero scoffed briefly at Raki, and then turned his attention back to his companions. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut short by a pair of men bursting into camp. Unperturbed, the boss and Kero looked to the commotion.

"Oh." The bandit leader said smiling, "Mevin. Sander. Did you finish your scouting mission?"

They didn't hear him. The two men were altogether too busy fighting over the last scraps of the bandit's meal. "Hey." The leader's face darkened. "I _said, _did you finish your scouting mission?" When no reply came, Raki watched with dark fascination as the leader withdrew two broad knives from within the folds of his cloak. In a dangerous whisper he said "did you _finish your scouting mission?_" Both men froze.

"Ah... Y-yes, Boss!"

"_Well?" _He growled dangerously, his handsome face suddenly fearsome. "_What did you find?"_

"A- it's a pretty good-un' Boss! They seem to have some money anyway."

"Is that so?" His knives disappeared as easily as they had appeared and he asked pleasantly, "Were there any young boys in the town?"

"Huh? Well, yeah, there were, I guess." One of the scouts scratched his head in a confused sort of way, and Raki recalled that the pair had not been present for the leader's speech on slavery.

The boss beamed at his men, exposing two even rows of perfect white teeth. "It's settled then! Rest up tonight boys, because tomorrow… we have work to do!" The bandits cheered wildly, and Raki gulped. He had a pretty fair idea as to what "work" included.

Raki waited until nearly everyone was asleep. One sentry at each campfire remained awake, but they were drowsy and faced away from the campfire. All night he'd carefully observed and listened, so he knew that the sentry's shifts were almost over; His constant scissoring at the gag with his teeth had finally paid off. Although it wasn't broken, Raki had inadvertedly loosened the knot, so he easily spit it out. He lay far away from the bandits, on his side, facing the campfire. His knees were drawn up to his chest in an awkward position. If anyone noticed, they would merely think he was trying to keep warm, or that was what Raki hoped anyway. His hands still tied, Raki held the rope tied to his leg between his knees. He chewed relentlessly at a particularly frayed part of the rope until it broke with a soft snap. Sighing, Raki allowed himself to rest briefly. It was too dark to see clearly, but the same hot, thick substance which covered the ends of the broken rope leaked from his raw lips and dribbled silently down the corners of his mouth. His mouth tasted of iron.

Raki counted to 30. At the 34th second, the sentry closest to him got up from his post to wake his replacement. In that moment of distraction, Raki stood up silently, and ran into the night, running hard and fast over the treacherous landscape. He didn't get 15 yards before a hand grabbed his shirt and yanked him backwards.

"Augh!" Raki landed hard on his back. A dark figure stood over him. For a moment there was silence as the two stared at each other. Then the figure stooped down and dragged Raki to his feet by the collar of his shirt.

"Well now!" the leader of the bandits pressed a glistening knife to Raki's throat. "That was a surprise! To think you'd go so far as to chew through your ropes… Although, I can see your hands are still bound. Were you going to abandon your sword and other possessions in favor of a silent getaway? Hmm?" He grinned at Raki as if expecting an answer. Rather than giving him one, Raki spit out a wad of his own blood and bared his bloody teeth defiantly. "Oh, what a face!" The man laughed jovially and pressed the knife closer, eliciting a small bit of blood.

"Come now, back to camp, let's go!" He dragged Raki back to the dying campfire, the knife pressed firmly to his throat the entire way. As they approached, both sentries stood up from their positions.

"Who goes there?!" the closest man called out. "Show yourself!"

"Relax. It's just me." The leader pulled Raki into the circle of dying firelight.

"Oh! Boss! Forgive me, I couldn't see you properly. Eh… why do you have the brat?"

He threw Raki unceremoniously at the man's feet. "I just caught a little mouse trying to escape the cat's claws. If the mouse so much as breathes without your awareness, I'm holding you personally responsible."

"Y-yes sir!" Raki drew himself to his knees and silently watched the leader walk away. He turned to the sentry, who looked down at him dubiously. "Jeez." The man said, "just what did ya do?" Raki stared at the ground and didn't answer. "Ignoring me eh? Well, whatever. It's not like I blame you. I wouldn't want to talk to me 'neither if I was being sold into slavery." Raki wiped the blood away from his raw lips.

Slowly, Raki stretched himself onto his stomach. His plan had failed. He felt the sentry's eyes on him, and knew that the chance for escape had passed, at least for the night. So he slept.

As dawn broke the next day, Raki lifted his head to find that most of the bandits were already awake and moving. Raki sat up stiffly, his whole body aching. His head trobbed, his bruised jaw pulsed, dried blood caked the outside of his mouth and cracked painfully when he moved.

"Maaan." He rose to his feet shakily and rolled his shoulders in an attempt to get blood flowing to his restrained hands. A large hand clapped on his shoulder, and Raki turned around warily.

"Hey, kid." Raki recognized the sentry who had spoken to him last night. "This is for you." He shoved what looked like a bit of food at Raki, who stood there angrily. "Come on, take it!"

"My hands are tied."

"Oh yeah. I forgot. Here you go." The man slipped behind Raki and cut away his bonds. Raki brought his hands around and rolled his wrists painfully. "Well, here ya are. He handed him some stale bread, which Raki sniffed uncertainly before eating it.

"Hey Derren!" Across the camp, a man holding the reigns to a horse beckoned the sentry over.

"Eh?" The sentry turned away, "What is it? You kn-" With sentry's back to him, Raki made a run for it. "H-hey! Stop him!" A hand grabbed his wrist, another grasped his shirt, but he kept struggling. Finally, a third hand snatched a fistful of his hair, and he was pulled to the ground. The hand pulling his hair shoved his face into the dirt, and a multitude of others held his squirming body down. Suddenly, the hand holding his head let go, and he looked up just in time to see a fast moving object swing towards his head. There was a large **crack, **and the world faded from view.

"Whew." The man holding a club reached down and shook the unconscious boy, who remained unconscious. Grabbing a limp wrist, he looked up and asked "Boss, this boy sure is a lot of trouble. Can't we just kill him and be done with it?"

"Nonsense!" Kero said. "We're not even a week's walk from the slave town; we can watch him until then."

"Tie him up," The leader said. "and… Derren. Secure him to Conor's old horse, and then lead the mare with yours. Got it?"

"S-sure."

"Everyone! Ready your weapons and mount your horses! The town the scouts picked out for attack is a mere 5 minutes away! Let's hope they appreciated their last sunrise!" The men cheered at their leader's encouragement and each mounted their respective horses. Derren took a bit longer than the others, as he had to carry Raki's body to Conor's horse and then tie him to the saddle. With a grunt, he tied another bit of rope to the horse's reigns to act as a lead, which he tied to his own horse. Finally, they were off.

At the start of the run, the horse jostled Raki back into consciousness. He cracked open his eyes just in time to pass a dark, silent, and very dead figure lying in the middle of the roadway. _Conor…?_ He turned around slightly, and watched in a confused sort of way as the figure quickly grew smaller. "Ugh." His head felt like it was splitting open from the sides, and he unconsciously moved his hands up to grip his temples. Which made him notice that they were bound again. _At least they're tied in front me this time. _Upon further inspection, he found that his waist was looped with similar rope and tied to an underside section of the saddle. _That'll be difficult to untie._ Forcing himself to ignore the pounding in his head, he sat up woozily and looked around. _What happened? All I remember is trying to escape and then… I woke up… on this horse. And… that was Conor's body a moment ago wasn't it? He's dead. _Gritting his teeth, Raki looked behind him, but the corpse was already out of sight. Looking ahead, he saw that he was riding a black mare which was tied to Derren's horse. He sat at the back of the galloping group of bandits, and Raki could see that they were fast approaching the town he had seen before.

Burying his head in his bound hands, he cursed himself over and over for failing to escape last night. He had planned on going to the village to warn them, and his failure had cost them their lives. _Why?! They don't deserve to die!_ Whether or not it was deserved didn't matter, for the end came anyway.

The bandits burst into the town in a flurry of war cries and surprised shouts from the villagers. For an expanded, horrifying moment, Raki watched the leader of the bandits pull ahead and draw two knives. He reached expertly down from his saddle and slashed the throat of an elderly man holding the hand of a little boy. The man fell, almost in slow motion, a permantly surprised expression etched into his face. Chaos erupted in an instant. The bandits yelled wildly and dealt death blows from the saddle. Villagers fled sporadically under the hooves of trampling horses. Raki sat paralyzed as the scene of death unfolded. _Look away! Look away! _He could not. A woman barely saved her child from being severed by a blow from Sander. He spun his horse around and slashed a blow across her front. She fell to the ground screaming and clutching her bloody face. A man rushed out of a house holding a pitchfork and was shot in the throat with a cross bow. A child screamed in pain. The scream sparked Raki's frozen limbs into action; he frantically fumbled at the knot on his waist.

Raki looked up, eyes wild. Sander had the bloody woman pinned to the ground. Her child, a little girl, was dead. Bandit's whom Raki didn't know the names of cackled as blood flew from the bodies of men, women, and children. Nearby, Derren hefted his spear at a wailing child standing over the corpse of a man. "No!" Finally free, Raki leapt from the horse and sprinted to where the child stood. He reached the toddler just before Derren did. Pulling her away, Raki fell to the ground clutching the child to his chest. Derren's spear landed where the child had stood. The bandit snatched it up, giving Raki a strange look before riding back into the fray. Raki spun the girl around to look at him.

"Run away!" he said, "hurry and find a place to hide where they won't find you!"

The child sniffed and stared at Raki with wide eyes. "M-m-my Papa…" Raki glanced at the body she had been standing over.

"Your Papa's gone!" He said harshly. The child wailed.

"Shush! Do you know a place to hide where they won't find you?" As a child, Raki recalled whole days spent playing hide-and-go-seek with the other children. They had been experts at finding places to hide then. Sobbing, she nodded. "Hurry! Go to it and stay there until they've gone!" He pushed the girl to his feet and she ran off. _God of Rabona, please let this girl find a safe place to hide!_ Relief flooded through him as she disappeared among the houses.

Raki looked around, his whole body shaking with adrenaline. Across the way, he saw Kero raise his sword and strike a young woman clutching a newborn to her chest, blood erupted from her neck, and she fell with scarcely a sound. Raki keeled over on his hands and knees and vomited. All around him, blood soaked into the cobble stones as easily as rain. Bodies and body parts lay tore up across the streets. Female shrieks echoed through the buildings as the bandits took what they wanted.

Raki shakily rose to his feet, only to crumple to his knees. He buried his head in his hands and sobbed. Any thought he had about escaping in the chaos no longer existed. Something had broken. Raki hid his face from the world and refused to look up, even when cold blood soaked into his clothes and the woman's shrieks were replaced by howls of pain that lasted just a moment. All at once, the town was silent. His broken heart couldn't stand it. The lone boy surrounded by a sea of blood covered his ears with his hands and howled, eyes squeezed shut.

_What's your name?_

_You don't need to know. You'll forget it soon anyway._

The rope squeezing his neck was uncomfortable. Thirteen other boys had been salvaged from the carnage. They all had ropes tied around their necks and all had bound hands. The ropes around the marching prisoner's necks converged into one long line, which the bandits led them by. Forced to go single file, they stumbled across the terrain silently. It had been like this for two days. The bandits led them north, and the climate grew colder and colder.

With a harsh tug on the rope, the boys stumbled forward and were ushered on faster.

"We'll probably reach the town tomorrow or the next day." One of the bandits speculated absently.

"I sure hope so. All this babysittin' is starting to affect my mental health." _Mental health?! _Raki's eyes darted to the man who had spoken. Before he had witnessed _that_, he had never known true hatred. Of course, he had disliked some people, he had even thought that he hated them; but he didn't, not really. The feeling that now possessed his soul, body, and mind, burned deep and cold within his body, it was true hatred. He hated them, he wanted to kill them, every single one. The handsome boss with his cool attitude. Kero with his fast smirk. The scouts Mevin and Sander. The man with the rope, Marcus. The kind faced one who gave them bread. Derren. All of the nameless subordinates. He wanted them dead.

A cold breeze blew into their faces. He could smell snow. A couple of miles later, the landscape began to change. Bits of snowdrift littered the roadway. Carefully, they maneuvered around the traps. Soon enough, the drifts became too numerous to avoid, until the entire ground was covered in snow. Raki shivered. Unlike the bandits around them, Raki and the town boys were not dressed for the cold. Some of the boys had been, but their coats and hats had been taken away as easily as their families had been murdered. More or less, they all wore thin over-shirts and thinner trousers. Raki had boots. Some of the others weren't so lucky. The boy in front of Raki, he couldn't be older than eight, stumbled and fell to his knees. Quickly, Raki helped him up.

The boy turned and looked at him with big, wide eyes. Looking at him, Raki's heart nearly broke all over again. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words refused to come. What would he say? "Don't worry, it will all be okay soon?", "It's okay, someone will come to help us?" Whatever he said, it would be a lie, and he couldn't do that to the boy, he couldn't give him false hope. The child sniffed and turned to keep walking.

_I'm so cold. _


	8. Chapter 8

Three days later they arrived at their destination. It was the middle of the morning when the sorry band made it to the mountain. Built right against the base was a perfectly ordinary-looking town. Shivering, Raki squinted at the approaching town doubtfully. Was this really the town that they would be sold to?

"Hey Kero!" one of the bandits yelled, "This is the town, right?"

Kero nodded. "It is." Raki blinked. Thus far, they had passed through a couple of northern towns on their way to this one. And from a distance, they all looked about the same. Glancing at his companions, Raki saw the same expression of dread reflected on each of their faces. Raki turned to the boy standing behind him and whispered:

"Is that really the town? Seems a little too… friendly." The boy, aged around 15, nodded and whispered back, "Afraid so. I've heard that it's actually a really nice city. They found this huge coal seam in the mountain and a lot of people have made a lot of money off of it. Not only that, but-"

"Hey! No talking!" The bandit holding the boy's rope gave a sharp tug, tightening the ropes around their necks, and they all stumbled forward. Two boys fell to their knees and were immediately helped up by others. Raki frantically grasped at the rope around his own neck with bound hands and pulled it loose again. Underneath, the skin was raw. Lately raw skin, bruises, and bleeding cuts seemed to be the norm. Trudging through the snow, the town grew nearer at a snail's pace. Around them, the bandits seemed to grow agitated and hurried them forward forcefully. Finally, they made it.

Despite the cold, the village was full of people out and about. The villagers seemed to pay no heed to the trudging soon-to-be-slaves and bandits. They continued on with their day like this was a normal occurrence. _Which it may well be…_

"Oi!" the boss called to a villager, "where do I go to sell these slaves?" The villager stared at the handsome man blankly before giving him directions. It wasn't far, and soon Raki found himself, along with all the other boys and a handful of bandits, in a spacious and warm inn on the outskirts of town.

"Well, well," the inn keeper said as the large group walked in. "What's this?" Raki looked around in shock. The "inn" so to speak, was the nicest one he'd ever seen. Nicer than the one in Rabona even. To the right, soft chairs and sofas were spread out elegantly on a soft carpet in front of an engraved fireplace. To the left, a huge carved table with delicate candelabras was being cleared of lunch. The inn keeper stepped from behind a large oak desk and continued,

"Are you selling all of these boys?" His eyes swept over the group quickly, landing on each face in turn. He held the air of a wealthy person, his clothes were clean and bright, his brown hair slicked back elegantly.

"We are." The boss confirmed. "We were told this was the place to come to sell them."

"Indeed it is. I'll buy them. I own the mines in the lower mountain region. We always need more workers." The inn keeper examined the boys gleefully.

"Yeah, yeah. But how much will you give us for 'em?"

"Well, that depends on the individual. Depending on how much work I think I can get out of them, I'll pay you accordingly. If you would like the maximum price for each boy, my assistant will perform a body examination, and then give you a price."

"Humph. Do what you need to. But keep in mind that we have over twenty men outside, and they'll fight to ensure they get a fair cut."

"Of course." The man bowed formally and called to an assistant. "Samantha, please lead these young boys to the examination hall." The leader of the bandits nodded to Kero, who strode over importantly to stand next to the boys.

The assistant, a middle-aged woman, curtsied and turned around. Moments later, Raki and the others were led delicately away by the woman, who held their rope firmly in both hands. "Now then," Raki heard the inn keeper say, "Do you men want a room for the night?"

As they walked away, Raki silently calculated their chances of knocking out 'Samantha' as well as Kero before making an escape through a backdoor or window. He was just about to signal his idea to the others when the woman said, "Do not even think of trying anything funny. There are numerous guards in this estate, and they won't hesitate to kill you if I scream." Weaving through a maze of endless corridors, Raki was struck by how large the place was. It could easily hold a hundred or more guests.

Despite the building's large size, Raki soon found himself in a room with a stone table on his right and a desk to his left. Cabinets lined the walls. There were no windows or doors other than the one he came through. In front of him, the other boys looked around curiously. Aside from the woman and Kero, three guards had joined them on their way to the hall. They stood alongside them now. Whipping out a thick cleave of paper, Samantha scribbled something down and then reached out and randomly grabbed a boy from the line. Raki grunted in surprise as he was pulled away from the others.

"Cut off his bonds." She ordered to a guard. One of them stepped forward and did so. "Alright!" she yelled exuberantly. "Let's see how much we can get out of this one. Strip him."

"Wha-" Raki's protests were cut off as the guard stepped forward and removed his shirt, pants, and boots. He felt very exposed standing there in nothing but his underwear, and shivered slightly.

"Hmm." Samantha stepped forward and stared at his face intensely.

"Umm…" Startled, Raki stepped backward uncertainly only to have the guard push him forward again.

"You've got good eyes. Plenty of determination." She said. "You're not the type to die on us so easily are you?"

"I'm not going to die!" Raki said angrily. Instead of answering she grabbed his arm and lifted it into the air. He tried to resist, but the moment Samantha's grip faltered, the guard placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, warning him to behave. With a low growl, Raki allowed her to examine his arm. It wasn't like she would hurt him anyway.

"Good muscle development." She scribbled on her paper. Spinning him around, she examined his back, legs, feet, fingers, toes, hips, stomach, chest, and throat. Then she opened his mouth and counted his teeth. All the while writing furiously on that silly paper. "Hmm." She mumbled to herself and turned away.

"Umm… Are you ah, done here?" Raki asked, reaching hesitantly for his clothes. Samantha suddenly spun around and pointed to his shoulder.

"How did you get that wound?"

"Oh, this" Raki glanced down at his shoulder quickly. "A fox bit me."

She narrowed her eyes and said, "That's quite a scar for just a bite."

"Well, it got infected… so I re-opened the wound to it drain." It was a bit of a lie, but Raki didn't feel too bad about it.

"I see. You may get dressed now." Raki gratefully put his clothes back on while she made some final notes on the parchment. "Alright." She said, still scribbling. "Take him back to the others." The guard nodded silently and grabbed Raki by the arm before placing him back in line. One by one, the other boys were stripped and thoroughly examined. Other than the occasional reply to a question, they were mournfully silent as their life's monetary value was calculated by a middle-aged woman with a pad of paper.

Finally, they were done. The guards led them, silent and stone-faced back through the maze of corridors and back to the front of the inn. The leader of the bandits was waiting in the comfy living space and the inn keeper watched their approach with a creepy smile.

"Well!" He said "How was it, Samantha? Do you think we can get much work out of these ones?"

"Some more than others, sir."

Clapping his hands together, the inn keeper/slave trader stepped forward and took the bundle of paper from his assistant. Shifting through them, he nodded slowly. "Mmm…Uh-huh…Hmm…I see."

"What is it?" Kero asked, in his usual hostile manner.

"Well! This is very good indeed!" He explained. "None of these boys show the signs of starvation and malnutrition evident in most of the other boys who are brought here!"

Approaching swiftly, the Boss asked, "What does that mean for us as far as money?"

"Well it increases their value, obviously!" Kero yelled.

Amused, the inn keeper nodded. "Indeed it does." Shuffling through the papers once more, he said, "I'll offer you… 900 beras for all of them."

Silence met the bandit's open-mouthed stares. "N-nine _hundred _beras?!" Kero blubbered. That was much more than any of the bandits had thought they would earn.

"What? Do you want more? Unfortunately, 900 beras is the best I can offer."

"Umm. No," The boss said. "900 is fine. Give us the money, and these brats are all yours."

"Of course." Motioning to one of the guards, the well-dressed slaver said "Get them outfitted in gear and put them with the others. They start work tomorrow." The guard nodded silently and led the newly-bought slaves out the door.

The sleeping quarters lay five miles outside of town. Two guards for every slave accompanied them to a large outpost-like building painted white as the snow. It was brick, and square, with a flat stone roof. A single smokeless chimney rose from the center of the building. There were no windows that he could see, and only one door. As they approached closer, Raki saw that the building was less solid than he had previously thought. Shrewd wind whistled through narrow cracks in the mortar, rough wooden planks covered whole sections of the roof, and snow slipped through their gaps. Raki guessed that the whole structure was probably 12 feet high, and then the size of a large-ish house. 50 feet to the left of the building there stood a small wooden storage shed, barely discernible from the deep snow.

Shoving them forward, the guards led them to the shed, and yanked the doors open. Inside, rows of leather boots lined the floor, and thin jackets were stacked neatly against the walls. Picks and shovels hung from the ceiling menacingly.

"Each of you gets one jacket, and one pair of boots," Said the tallest guard. Stepping forward hesitantly, Raki grabbed a jacket from the pile and shrugged it on. The others followed in suit, grabbing boots and jackets silently. Raki considered grabbing a pair of boots, but decided against it. From the looks of them, his own boots were in much better condition. Shrugging on the coat, he was immediately grateful. It was by no means incredibly warm, but it did soften the sharp winds somewhat. Once again leading them away, the guards took them to the main building.

"This is where you will live with the other slaves." The same guard told them shortly. "They're working now, but they'll be back tonight. I suggest getting as much sleep and rest now as you possibly can. You're in for a world of hell tomorrow. " Turning around, the guard ordered five of the group to stay behind, and left. The remaining guards grumbled slightly and huddled at the door, blocking the only means of escape.

Looking around, Raki examined their new living space. The whole building was really just one big room. The floor was largely empty, with a single empty fireplace in the center of the room. It looked like it hadn't been used in years. Despite this, it was much warmer than it had been outside, and he was grateful. Crouching down, Raki stroked the floor, his fingers coming up black. _The floor's covered in soot. _With a sigh, Raki pulled his jacket closer around his body. _If there's this much soot on the floor…_ Raki looked up and examined the sad and familiar faces of his forced companions. _ We really are in for hell. _

Some hours later, Raki was dozing off in a corner of the room, when the door slowly swung open, inviting in a gust of wind and snow into the room. Blinking rapidly, he thought for a moment that he was still sleeping, for entering through the doorway were seemingly dozens of completely black-clad figures. Once he realized he wasn't dreaming, he was on his feet in an instant. Without realizing it, Raki was suddenly shielding the younger children from the mysterious black specters.

"Who are you?!" He challenged fiercely. His challenge was met with silence. By the door, a guard snorted in haughty amusement, but other than that, nothing was said. The figures moved forward and began dispersing through the room. Backing up slightly, Raki pressed the little ones against the wall behind him and glared at the bodies silently. After a moment, a taller figure detached itself from the group and staggered up to Raki.

"Hello," It whispered.

"Hello," Raki said. Now that it was up close, Raki began to make out details of the figure. Washed-out blue eyes stood out starkly against the ashen skin. A mop of hair hung down in the figures face, and black lips cracked upward in a smile to reveal white teeth. "I… suppose you are another slave here?" Raki guessed.

"That is correct," the boy said quietly. "My name is Caden." Slowly, Caden extended his right hand out toward Raki. Instinctively, Raki took his hand to shake, and immediately wished he hadn't. Aside from the soot, which covered the slaves from head to toe, Caden's skin was like wet paper, ready to tear at any moment. His bones felt brittle beneath the limp skin, and Raki shook his hand lightly, out of fear of breaking his hand.

"I'm Raki." Raki said.

"Well Raki, you and the oth-" Abruptly, Caden sagged to the floor.

"Wha-?" Hurriedly, Raki knelt down, "Caden, are you alright?" Caden's response was a series of dry-heaving, choking coughs. _He's… very sick. _Raki thought as he placed a useless hand on the crouching boys back. Finally, Caden sat up.

"Ugh." Caden smiled weakly and wiped black spittle from his mouth. "That wasn't fun." It was meant as a joke, but Raki didn't find it funny. Examining him further, Raki thought Caden to be older than him, although he could only tell from his height. Caden's eyes were sunk into his head, and his skin was stretched tight in some places and hung loose in others.

Smiling slightly at his reaction, Caden turned away to join the others. Moving closer to the group, Raki saw that all the figures were young boys like themselves. The youngest appeared no more than five, the oldest perhaps sixteen. As he watched, they crouched to the ground and in an unspoken ritual, washed their faces and hands of soot with snow.

With the ghostly figures now recognizable as humans, the children behind Raki crept forward hesitantly, wandering through the sooty group. Raki began to fret as one fear took the place of another. _These people… _every single one of the slaves was starving and on the verge of death, it was all too easy to see that. _Is this how we'll look in a couple months' time as well? A slow, cruel death watching your own body decay while you are helpless to stop it? _Raki shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He would think of something, he had to.

Refocusing on the situation at hand, Raki sought out Caden's face among the others. Hands and faces clean, the boys had turned to methodically scraping snow from the ground and packing it into the walls. _Are they filling the cracks? _Raki sat down next to a boy who seemed about his age and began patching the walls as well; he'd given up on finding Caden, he wouldn't be able to recognize him without soot on his face anyway.

"So, um." Raki began, "My name's Raki." The boy turned and offered a weak smile.

"Raki." He rolled the name on his tongue carefully. "Tobias." He said, offering his hand. Raki shook it, noting that Tobias was missing two fingers on his right hand, and one on his left. Steeling himself for further mutilations, Raki forced himself to further examine the slave. Tobias' eyes were sunk deep into his skull, and the whites of his eyes were yellow. His skin stretched tight across his face; he looked like a skeleton covered in Paper Mache. Like Caden, Tobias' hair hung in filthy clumps, but unlike Caden, Tobias' hair was in the process of falling out.

"Can you- can you tell me what's going on?" Raki asked finally.

Tobias' face scrunched in concentration. "We find… the black rocks." He said finally.

"You mean coal?"

Tobias nodded, "Coal."

"When do they feed us? When do we work? How long do we work _for_?"

Tobias stared at him for several long moments before turning away. "Um." Raki said, "Are you-"

From behind him someone said, "They feed us sporadically." Raki turned to find a familiar face behind him. "Caden? He asked uncertainly. "You can never predict how much food will come." Caden continued "We begin work at dawn, and return just before sunset every day." Caden sat down next to Raki slowly, and he, too began packing slow against the wall.

"What are we doing?" Raki asked, stuffing a fistful of snow into an already-filled crack.

"We're packing the wall with snow so we don't freeze." he explained. "The winds are very strong at night."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"It's rather cold, if you haven't noticed." Caden smirked slyly. This time, Raki chuckled at Caden's attempt at humor. Laughing felt good, he realized.

"If you don't mind me asking," Raki said quietly, "is there, ah, something wrong with Tobias'…" Raki gestured to his head.

Caden sighed, and then erupted into a fitful cough. Raki stiffened, unsure of what to do. After a moment, however, Caden stopped.

"Tobias," he said, once he'd recovered "is in what we call the final stages."

"The final stages?" Raki asked uneasily.

"It means that he is about to die. As you've probably noticed, it's not always the cold or hard labor that does us in, although that kills us too. Sometimes," Caden said with another large sigh, "we starve to death."

Raki pursed his lips together, unable to find the words he wanted to speak.

"And when you're literally starving, your brain stops… working right. Don't ask me why, but I've seen it several times. Heck, I've even noticed it in myself."

Raki was suddenly extremely frightened. The past couple of days events all led to one horrible and beautiful question: _am I going to die here?_ He didn't want his mind to deteriorate like Tobias', he didn't want his body to become as fragile and brittle as Caden's, he didn't want to die. Abandoning the wall-packing to Caden, Raki sat back on his heels and pressed the palms of his hands to his head.

Caden looked at Raki sympathetically. He knew what was going on in the new slave's head, and that sort of thing wasn't easy to deal with. But he would come to terms with it. Everyone did, at some point or another. When the newbies arrived, they were always surprised at the sort of tight-knit community they suddenly found themselves in. Despite any outside opinions or appearances, the slave compound was actually a very peaceful place. Sure, there were occasional exceptions, but those were quickly fixed. Finishing with his wall, Caden turned to Raki, who had a panic-stricken look on his face.

Silently, Caden drew Raki into a hug. Raki wished he hadn't, Caden was so frail. "It's not okay, Raki." Caden said, "at least not right now. But in a couple of months, it'll be better." Caden pulled away to look Raki in the eyes. He seemed to be calming down.

"I might be dead in a couple of months." Raki said, quietly.

"You might." Caden admitted with a cough. "But then again you might not. Do you want to know how long I've been here Raki?" Raki nodded. "Six months. You'll be alright, just you wait and see." Raki nodded again, and Caden left it at that.

_Oh, crap. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap! Augggghhhhh! _Inwardly, Raki screamed. His mind raced, searching for some solution out of this mess. _I need to escape! But how?! I don't know my way around, and there are guards everywhere. Even supposing I did escape, this area is probably crawling with slave traders... I can cross that bridge when I come to it. I need to escape first. How? _Forcing himself to calm down, Raki took deep, even breaths. Finally, he thought, _I'll observe for a couple of days. There's bound to be a kink in the system somewhere. Until then, I'll stay focused and do my work like a good slave. _

Decision made, he followed Caden to a far corner of the room, where, he noticed, everyone was gathering. Raki was easily able to pick out the boys who he'd come with, due to the lack of coal dust, and an overall healthier appearance. Sitting down, he was somewhat surprised to see that even though the boys from the town stuck close together, they whispered quietly to the ashen-covered slaves. Several of them were crying, and were in turn comforted by the others around them.

Outside, the wind howled, but Raki couldn't feel the slightest breeze inside. In fact, with everyone so close together, Raki was actually pretty warm. Turning to Caden he asked, "Will they feed us tonight?"

"Naw. You guys are new, so we'll probably eat in the morning. Are you hungry?" Raki nodded silently. "I hate being the bringer of bad news and all, but you're going to be hungry from now until you're gone. It's time to sleep, I suggest you lie down. They'll try to break you tomorrow. The guards I mean" With that last morbid thought, Caden stretched out on the floor. Around him, so did everyone else. Raki suddenly realized why they were all huddled together. Lying down, there were at least five people sharing his body heat. He was warm. Raki curled into a ball quietly and allowed himself a small moment of happiness. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been warm. Next to him, Caden erupted into a fierce coughing fit, vomiting black bile.


End file.
